Portugal and NATO: from the Pyrenees to Angola

Abstract

This article is an adapted version of the last chapter of the book, Portugal and NATO: the Reencounter of the Atlantic Tradition. It starts with an overview of the evolution of Portugal's international links after the war, and of its effects in terms of foreign policy. The next subjects are the reasons for Portugal's joining NATO, and the importance of this for the evolution of Portuguese defence policy from 1949 to 1961. Three phases are discussed: the first, pre-NATO, in which the key-note was collaboration with Spain to defend the Pyrenees and the Iberian regimes; the second, corresponding to the period 1951 to 1959, in which the main factors were Atlantic; and the third in which the key-note was defence of the colonies. The last part deals with the effects of NATO on internal development, compares how Portugal lived through the last two changes of the world order, and it composes some theories on the role of national division.