In 2017, the OBSERVARE (Observatory of External Relations), a research unit of the Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa (UAL) decided to carry out a Study on the Portuguese Diplomatic Structure, including procedural aspects.

Multiple written sources were identified, researched and analyzed, including digital, Portuguese and foreign. The testimony and opinion of personalities of indisputable experience and merit in the field of diplomacy and Portuguese public life were collected. With the competent technical intervention of professionals in the sector and ensuring representativeness and reliability, three opinion surveys were carried out.

In these circumstances, this study is an academic work which, as is due, sought to inculcate the necessary characteristics of independence and scientific rigor.

The work that is now being published is a reflection of all this multifaceted investigation.

The study will be presented by Eduardo Paz Ferreira.

Participation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos Silva.