Portugal looks to the existing strategic environment with its own interests, as a result of the responsibilities derived from its condition as a Nation built upon nine centuries of history and also from its obligations as a Member-State of the United Nations, the European Union, the North Atlantic Alliance and the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP).

In the field of security and Defence Portugal takes the United Nations as a key source of legitimacy and EU, NATO and CPLP as the key spaces for our responsibility and action.

Portugal fully undertakes the interests and responsibilities inherent to the international convergence for Peace, Stability and Development. In recent years, Portugal has been actively involved in these endeavours, namely with its Armed Forces.

The scope of needs and demands emerging from the situations experienced in current times explain why modern and well developed democracies rank the Armed Forces very high in their key options and concerns. This is a consequence of their understanding of Security and Defence as being essential to sustain Welfare and Progress, and also of their understanding that Security is a value to be built both internally and externally.

It is also an expression of a growing need to, whilst maintaining collective security ( NATO article 5) as a core reference, develop a posture of cooperative security, with a global scope and based on comprehensive approach models, focused on the human person, trough mutually reinforcing institutions and with a strong and very essential military involvement.