Portugal between Lusophony, the European Union and the rest of the world

Abstract

In the current scheme of globalized relations and complex interrelationships between the different geographical scales, it is difficult to discuss how a country like Portugal fits into the world, but at the same time it is essential to start a discussion about its strategic positioning, especially about the geographical areas most relevant to the country’s relationship with the rest of the world. In this perspective, we have to consider not only geographically contiguous territories, but also places located further away which, notwithstanding distance, still play an important role. It means considering Portugal within references that include the Iberian Peninsula, Europe, the Atlantic and more broadly Lusophony. This is the variable, complex and changeable geometry in which the present is discussed and the future of the country is questioned by many authors, sometimes as a minor dependent state, sometimes as an assertive and resilient player empowered by the opportunities of interaction between different spatial contexts.