Segurança, Lusofonia e Poder

A CPLP e o Policiamento nos PALOP​

Abstract

Security and internal defence in the Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP) face structural challenges associated with institutional fragility, transnational crime, human mobility dynamics, and constraints affecting democratic governance. This article analyses the emergence of policing cooperation practices within the Lusophone space and examines their scope and limitations as a model of security governance grounded in shared linguistic, legal, and institutional frameworks that link Portugal and the PALOP under the framework of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP). It argues that this cooperation framework, centred on community policing approaches, ethical training, and technical diplomacy, has been presented as a differentiated alternative to Anglo-Saxon and Francophone security paradigms. The article further assesses the role of the CPLP as a platform for political and security coordination, discussing its potential and structural constraints within the contemporary African context.