Cultural diplomacy in a post imperial context: Europeanization and the Macau handover in Portuguese foreign diplomacy

This article examines how cultural diplomacy shaped Portuguese foreign policy in a post-imperial context, focusing on Europeanisation and the negotiated transfer of Macau to Chinese sovereignty. Following the 1974 democratic transition, culture emerged as a strategic resource through which Portugal sought to reconcile its imperial legacy with new democratic and European aspirations. Methodologically, the research adopts a historical analysis grounded in an interpretative and hermeneutic reading of state promoted cultural initiatives. The findings show that cultural diplomacy operated as a central mechanism for redefining Portugal's international positioning: (1) European cultural frameworks enabled the projection of democratic legitimacy and accelerated Portugal's symbolic integration into Europe; (2) the management of the Macau handover demonstrated how cultural narratives were mobilised to frame withdrawal as negotiated continuity rather than rupture; and (3) language remained a persistent, and often imposed, instrument of symbolic projection across post-imperial narratives. The article concludes that cultural diplomacy was pivotal in negotiating a postimperial identity, shaping narratives that reconcile history, identity, and continuity, ultimately contributing to the emergence of what may be conceptualised as a diplomacy of democracy.