Portugal: An Empire Revisited
In May 2014, Portugal exited a three-year bailout programme worth 78 billion euros, from emergency funds distributed by the European Union and International Monetary Fund. Structural reforms presented the antidote to macroeconomic instability, namely liquidity shocks and anemic growth, precipitating a multiplicity of austerity measures. The broader implication of the programme was a transformation of Portugal’s economy and, by extension, national security policy. An inward-looking and continental politics, pursued since the collapse of Portugal’s pluricontinental dictatorship in 1974, ceased in utility. Lawmakers subsequently commissioned an outward strategy, the Mar-Portugal Plan, defining the maritime domain as a pillar of geoeconomic importance. A seafaring tradition, upon which Portugal historically extended its thalassocratic power across international shipping lanes and maritime chokepoints, reflects the modern-day commercial needs of a state geographically restricted to the European periphery.
Atlanticism Reimagined
The establishment of a maritime strategy, one that employs ocean-related value chains for economic growth and sustainable development, necessitates Portugal’s commercial repositioning. With Portugal’s economic zones situated near the equatorial and meridian passageways, Lisbon aims to service, foremost, a larger share of transatlantic trade flows by integrating port infrastructure into international freight networks. Interestingly, amid the push to expand Europe’s regasification capacity, Portugal strives to become the premier Euro-Atlantic energy hub, with upgrades earmarked for the multipurpose Port of Sines, making more natural gas re-exported from America’s shale basins accessible to northern Europe. Fostering a chokepoint for international cargo carriers requires capital and technological transfers. Major investments include the restructuring of deep-water trading ports and shipyards, revitalization of the national merchant marine, and promoting scientific research in energy transitions and resource circularity. If the Atlantic holds the seat of power for Portugal’s future, breakthrough maritime technologies alone cannot secure dominance; instead, a nexus of ports and bases would allow the Portuguese to exercise influence beyond the shores of continental Europe.
The core frontier for Portuguese power projection involves the country’s autonomous archipelagic islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the Azores and Madeira chains, acting as points of exchange between the European mainland and the Americas and Africa. From these territories, which grant access to territorial waters and exclusive economic zones (EEZs), Portugal filed a legal claim regarding the outer limits of the islands continental shelf to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf in 2009. This submission seeks to expand the country’s territory beyond 200 nautical miles, based on provisions codified by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and, thus, endow Portugal with the tenth largest maritime boundary globally. If validated, these areas harbor natural resources accessible for licensing and exploitation beneath the subsoil, with geological surveys indicating potential reserves of metallic minerals and hydrocarbons across the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Unlocking the ocean’s untapped resource wealth, thereby developing production capabilities away from agro-commodities, underwrites much-needed capital injection to stimulate growth in the maritime economy.
Remaking the Global Order
The Eurozone sovereign debt crisis unmasked the underlying polarization of core-periphery macroeconomic development. For import-dependent, debt-ridden peripheral Mediterranean economies, the European Troika induced a privatization fire sale of publicly owned companies in exchange for loans. An unexpected consequence of the debt-restructuring packages entailed the closing-in of political space for finance capital—accelerating strategic competition between (creditor) countries. Since 2011, China’s state-owned enterprises have morphed into leading acquisitors of newly privatized European firms, procuring sizable shares in cross-sectorial industries. In some instances, China’s capture of the European market bit into the profitability of transatlantic trade flows. More importantly, however, the European Union raised security concerns over “state directed” companies integrating into member states' critical infrastructure. The emerging EU-China conflict entails an internal dimension too, evidenced by an intra-European bloc confrontation between those closely aligned with a systemic competitor.
The Portuguese government, having observed political infighting within the Western bloc, remains inclined towards cooperation with a diversity of stakeholders under existing legal and normative frameworks. In 2017, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa inaugurated a “blue partnership” with China, drawing on the shared history of trade across the premodern Maritime Silk Road. While the two countries advocate mutually beneficial cooperation in areas of marine science and logistics, Lisbon’s strategy, specifically, leverages oceanic assets to access foreign capital and technical expertise. Yet, to avert regional confrontation, Portugal’s long-standing commitment to the Atlantic Alliance commands focal interest. Lisbon has therefore taken an active role in merging the initiatives of national bodies, including the armed forces and research centers, with multilateral institutions. For example, in 2019, the Portuguese Navy hosted a multinational unmanned maritime experimentation exercise off the coastline of the Iberian Peninsula to strengthen the interoperability of NATO’s command and communication chain in aerial and seaborne environments. That same year, Portugal showcased a homegrown unmanned oceanic patrol vehicle, dually propelled by hydrogen and wave-based technology, at the NATO Maritime Unmanned Systems Symposium in Brussels. The advantage of a synergy between Portugal and a cohort of international partners emanates from a campaign to elevate the country’s maritime profile in terms of leadership, innovation, and sustainability.
Lastly, Portugal’s conjoint path towards democratization and European integration coincided with the decolonization of the country’s overseas empire. Rather than reorganize ex-colonies under the tutelage of a European metropole, Portugal uses past cultural ties to maintain diplomatic relevance in economy and defense abroad, often supplemented by access to resources from international organizations. In the former Portuguese colony of Mozambique, Portugal signed a five-year cooperation agreement, with the aim of training Mozambican forces and improving intelligence-gathering techniques to support counter-insurgency efforts against Islamic State-affiliated militants operating along East Africa’s Swahili coast. More so, during Portugal’s position as rotating Council President in 2021, EU member states were called upon to deploy a training mission to the southernmost province of Maputo—exemplifying Portugal’s hybrid approach to foreign policy outreach. Paradoxically, while the rupturing of monopolized spheres of influence erode European control, Portugal adjusted to changes in the global landscape and cultivated more equitable relationships with former colonies.
A Distant Past, Inscribing the Future
An engagement with traditional sea power borrowed, pragmatically, from a cultural history of overseas exploration satisfies the mission to alter the course of Portugal’s destiny, rectify the passivity tied to outsourced policymaking and restore its greatness as a pioneer anew. With policy recommendations flowing from a development model catering towards a return to the maritime domain, Portugal anticipates the disbursement of (post-pandemic recovery) funding in industry and education geared towards expanding the competitiveness and resiliency of an ocean-based economy. This self-asserting strategy intends to maximize economic productivity and support solution-driven initiatives on resource sustainability and climate action. Regardless, Portugal’s most valuable asset consists of geographical location, using the sea entry point to turn itself into an energy corridor for inland European markets, while simultaneously building a macrocosmic transit system to achieve the status of a logistics superpower. Herein lies the modular shift to re-exert state power on the international stage. As in the centuries of bygone glory, the Atlantic Ocean remains at the heart of Portugal’s promise.
