Ongoing Projects

Europe's future

Scientific responsible: Carlos Gaspar

The coronavirus epidemic has not transformed the international system, but it has accelerated important changing trends. The erosion of the multilateral liberal order and the dynamics of fragmentation pave the way for a division into spheres of influence centered on the main powers. This project will analyze the strategies developed by the United States, China, and Russia in relation to Germany, France, and Great Britain in that context. The reconfiguration of the central balances and the European strategies of the international powers can change the regional political alignments, as well as condition the specific planning models of the European security community.

Horizon 2030: Turkey and Euro-Atlantic security in a changing world

Scientific responsible: Domingos Jorge Fernandes Rodrigues and José Pedro Teixeira Fernandes

The Euro-Atlantic security system is subject to increasing tensions at the beginning of the 21st century. Europe and the world today are very different from the late 1940s when the system was originally conceived. Initially, an important actor in the NATO context, Turkey, now seems to have its national and security interests at odds with the traditional partners of NATO and the European Union. Thus, the main goals of this project are: (i) to identify recent transformations in Turkey's national and security interest linked to ongoing trends in the Middle East and in the world, projecting them until 2030; (ii) to assess the impact of these transformations on political and security relations with its NATO partners, outlining possible responses to them that guarantee a high level of security in the Euro-Atlantic area.

Transatlantic Relations

Donald Trump's foreign policy in a post-liberal world

Scientific responsible: Vasco Rato

With the end of Donald Trump's presidential term, it is urgent to consider the way in which his administration responded to the breakdown of the liberal international order. Sometimes chaotic and often confrontational with America's historic allies, Trump's policy is often characterized as an ad hoc response to cyclical problems. However, there is greater strategic consistency, and continuity with previous presidential administrations, than is sometimes admitted. The main objective of this project is to consider how the current international order, based on rules created after 1945, is inadequate to respond to complex phenomena such as globalization, the resurgence of China and recent technological transformations.

European Security and Defense Policy

Portuguese Participation in Missions and Operations under the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) of the European Union from 2010 to 2020 – Return of Experiences

Researchers: Jorge Costa Campos, Isabel Ferreira Nunes, Maria Francisca Saraiva and Pedro Nuno Seabra

This research project aims to present, in a structured and selective way, what national institutions and bodies have learned in the last decade (2010 - 2020) with the experience of their participation in missions and operations within the scope of the Common Security and Defense Policy. (CSDP) and what resulting contributions can be shared with our partners in the European Union. In view of the challenges posed, within the scope of the CSDP, within the framework of the national decision-making process, and in the implementation of Portuguese participation in missions and operations, which contribute to the affirmation of Portugal as a global actor, it is intended to collect, analyze, interpret and disseminate the experience acquired by the national actors involved in these processes. The planning, preparation, projection, execution, and retraction phases will be considered, ensuring that the experience acquired by the men and women who took part in it is transformed into useful knowledge for national organizations, being adopted for this purpose. a methodology of “Return of Experiences”.

Germany, NATO, and European security

Scientific Responsible: Patrícia Daehnhardt

In the current framework of transatlantic relations, between Europe and the US, the EU, and NATO, strategic irrelevance is one of the main challenges for European countries that cannot remain indifferent in the face of the uncertainty of the Trump administration's strategies or the revisionism of the strategies. international markets from China and Russia. Germany, the main European power in the post-Cold War period and the 2008 crisis have expectations of leadership in the strategic response to the challenges of the Euro-Atlantic order. The project analyzes the European and Euro-Atlantic security framework in the international order and defines the security and defense implications for Germany and its European partners.

The European Union/CSDP and NATO as indispensable partners in a contested world

Scientific responsible: Isabel Ferreira Nunes and Patrícia Daehnhardt

This study aims to analyze the international and regional role of the European Union and NATO as providers of security and governance systems in terms of post-2001 international security. The project identifies the competitive advantage of each institution in the fields of cooperative security and collective defense and examines the specific domains of complementarity between the two. The EU and NATO are seen as an integral part of the current Euro-Atlantic governance system and as interdependent strategic partners in international and regional cooperation in security and defense.

The European Union, the CSDP context, the Climate – Security nexus: a comprehensive and integrated approach to the Crisis

Researcher: Carlos Coutinho Rodrigues

This research project aims to contribute to a comprehensive and integrated Crisis strategy, particularizing the issue of the nexus between security and climate in the context of the “Global Strategy for the Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union”, which provides for the strengthening of resilience energy and environment in a context where climate change and environmental degradation exacerbate conflicts. The project also aims to: - deepen the principle of the link between security and development through the integration of a comprehensive approach to the climate-security nexus, in a civil-military link and in the fields of EU-Africa, EU-UN, EU-NATO cooperation; - monitor the implementation of the “Climate Change and Defense Roadmap” from a national defense perspective.

Security and Development in Africa

Portugal and Defense Cooperation with Africa

Scientific responsible: Pedro Seabra

After almost 35 years of experience in Military-Technical Cooperation (CTM)/Cooperation in the Defense Domain, it is imperative to take stock of the initiatives carried out under it, identifying both the main comparative advantages and the main obstacles and competitors. as well as any specific training needs, better suited to the current international context. As such, it primarily aims to assess and gather lessons from past CTM experiences that can be applied to new CDD projects. Second, starting from that base, the study is intended to contribute to the elaboration of practical inputs, which reflect cross-experiences in this domain lived by the main actors in the field.

National Security and Defense Strategy

Portugal's Economic Security and Instability in East Asia

Scientific responsible: Nuno Pereira de Magalhães

The absolute and relative weight of East Asian countries in the Portuguese economy has increased in recent years, particularly in terms of trade and investment relations with China. This weight is so important that it can be said that Portugal's own economic security has become vulnerable to these links. This vulnerability becomes particularly relevant due to the economic slowdown in East Asia, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and exacerbated by Sino-American competition. In this context, the project aims to assess how Portugal's economic security can be directly and indirectly affected by political-economic instability in East Asia, examining the potential costs of various hypothetical crisis scenarios.

Public Defense Policies

Gender mainstreaming and the implementation of UNSCR 1325: policies, practices, and challenges of female participation in the Portuguese Armed Forces

Scientific responsible: Cristina Rodrigues da Silva

The project will investigate the evolution of the situation of gender integration in the Portuguese Armed Forces during the last decade. Based on UNSCR 1325, on Women, Peace, and Security (2000), which highlights the need for women's full and equal participation in all processes of conflict prevention and resolution, promotion, maintenance, and consolidation of peace. The study aims to characterize Portuguese female participation based on different indicators, explore dynamics of gender integration in the military context and analyze the implementation of policies, namely the impacts of the National Action Plans and Equality in Defense.

Monitoring the Implementation of the Education Framework for Defense and Peace in the Portuguese Educational System (2014-2021)

Scientific responsible: António Paulo Duarte

Associate researcher: Maria Francisca Saraiva

The research project aims to promote the diagnosis and analysis of the impact of the Education Framework for Security, Defense and Peace (EFSDP) in the development of a strategic education, which substantiates a knowledge on the part of teachers and students of the national and global security issues, in the Portuguese education system, fundamentally in the scope of basic and secondary education.

The public policy cycle of peace operations in the context of Portuguese foreign policy

Scientific responsible: Maria Francisca Saraiva

The project examines peace operations as an instrument of Portuguese foreign policy from the perspective of public defense policies, having as a background the analysis of the agenda-setting process, policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation in the context of military and military missions and operations. civilian missions of the Common Security and Defense Policy of the European Union. It seeks to understand the cycle of this public policy in the context of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Defense, and Ministry of Internal Administration in defining this policy, taking into account the broader context of Portuguese commitments in the United Nations and Atlantic Alliance peacekeeping operations.

Survey of the Portuguese population on Defense and Armed Forces 2020

Scientific responsible: Pedro Magalhães and Raquel Vaz-Pinto

Associate researchers: António Cardoso, Ana Tinoco, Claudio Reis, Cristina Rodrigues da Silva and Miguel Capelas

This study is the result of a collaboration between the Institute for National Defense (IDN), the Directorate General for National Defense Resources (DGRDN), the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon (ICS-UL), and the Portuguese Institute of International Relations of the University of Lisbon. Nova de Lisboa (IPRI-UNL). Its objective is to assess and analyze the opinions and social representations of the Portuguese population on National Defense and the Armed Forces, focusing on perceptions of risks and threats, Portugal's international insertion in the field of security and defense, the need, importance, and prestige of the Armed Forces and the military profession, the missions, organization and resources of the Armed Forces, as well as aspects related to national identity and forms of citizen participation in National Defense.

Digital Transformation and Defense

Information Security and Cybersecurity: A methodological approach

Scientific responsible: João Manuel Assis Barbas

This study aims to analyze the main elements involved in the adoption of an Information Security architecture, aligned with the mission and objectives of organizations. The project assesses the importance of information and Information Systems and Technologies for organizations. It will examine the relevance of information and information systems and technologies; current and emerging threats in cyberspace; the main concepts in terms of information security; the policies, strategies, norms, procedures, good practices of information security, and implementation of information security.