It analyses the current state and foreseeable evolution of security and defence policies and strategies, as well as the external relations framework resulting from regional or international cooperation initiatives. It monitors developments arising from national and international threats such as: arms proliferation, the nuclear issue, terrorism, energy security and hybrid and cyberspace threats. It also analyses the normative dimension of global security with regard to humanitarian intervention, responsibility to protect, human security, human rights, security interdependence and international cooperation.
It analyses the set of policies, doctrines, institutions and capabilities employed to address challenges and contain international threats in the transatlantic area. It considers regional challenges and threats and the range of national and Alliance responses in managing them. It promotes the study on the evolution of the relationship between the transatlantic community. It covers aspects of regional security and defence from the perspective of intergovernmental relations within the NATO framework, bilateral relations with the USA and Portugal's interests in those contexts of political relations, as well as within the framework of cooperation relations between NATO and the European Union.
It is devoted to researching European developments within the framework of the European Union's institutions, foreign, security and defence policy and analysing them at the level of the Union's concepts, policies, strategies, capabilities and international missions and operations. It also considers the relationship between the internal and international security of the EU, in particular as regards the phenomena of hybrid threats, cyber security, combating violent radicalisation, proliferation, pandemics and terrorism. It accompanies the challenges facing democracy, multilateralism and those arising from the exacerbated expression of nationalisms with implications for the European project. The bilateral and multilateral initiatives of Member States in the context of European security and defence are also the subject of study.
It conducts research in the African regional context within the framework of conflict, preventive diplomacy, defence cooperation, security and development nexus, crisis management, security sector reform processes and disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration. It accompanies the development of various multilateral and bilateral regional partnerships for cooperation in the fields of security and defence. It monitors the various actions and programmes of rehabilitation of local institutions, political, judicial, military and penal administration in post crisis and post conflict situations.
It is dedicated to the study of a national strategy from a multidisciplinary perspective, considers the dimensions of security and defence from the perspective of the power factors of the State, the evolution of national interests and objectives within a framework of global and interdependent relationships. It analyses the current and foreseeable list of risks and threats to national security, considers priorities, means and responses to immediate and long-term scenarios where they should be employed.
It develops research on national defence, as a transversal and multi-sector public policy provided by the Portuguese State, both in national conception and planning, and within the framework of internal and international commitments. It is dedicated to the analysis of public policy theories, national defence policy decision-making processes, implementation strategies, monitoring the evolution of public perceptions of national defence and assessing the impact of the issue of gender equality.
It assesses the impact of the technological revolution brought about by the digital transformation in the context of defence, considering the impact of the introduction of digital technologies on national security and defence, on the formulation of defence policy and on the conduct of crisis and conflict management. It is dedicated to the analysis of the political, technological, economic and social impact and its consequences on cyberspace, information management, interoperability of capabilities and national coordination and international cooperation.