In over four decades of Portuguese democracy, European integration has always been a central point. Europeanization was a factor in the consolidation of democracy in Portugal, while democratization helped legitimize Portuguese integration into Europe after centuries at the far end of the Iberian Peninsula and a more Atlantic vocation. Nonetheless, the assumptions about the symbiotic relationship between democracy, Portugal and Europe were challenged and continue to be put into question by the recent Euro crisis. This seminar examines the historical path of Portuguese European integration and the impact of recent crises on the Portugal-Europe relationship, while arguing that there is no reasonable alternative to a profoundly European Portugal.
Nuno Severiano Teixeira is professor of political science and director of the Portuguese Institute of International Relations at NOVA University of Lisbon. Currently he is Luso-American Foundation Visiting Professor in the department of government at Georgetown University. He has also been a visiting scholar at the Institute for European Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute. He has authored, edited and co-edited over fifteen books on the history of international relations and the history of European integration, security and defense studies, and military history, including A New Military History of Portugal comprised of five volumes. He served in the Portuguese government as director of the National Defense Institute (1996-2000), minister of interior (2000-2002), and minister of defense (2006-2009).
