Maria Raquel Freire
Biographic Data
| ID | 3902071 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Maria Raquel Freire |
| GIVEN NAMES | Maria Raquel |
| FAMILY NAME | Freire |
| SIGNATURE | FREIRE M R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Coimbra |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-2952-6017 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 37 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 57 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 35 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Why the OSCE endures
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is widely criticized for its inability to fulfil its liberal reform agenda, and many view it as a defunct institution amid the broader crisis of the liberal international order. With the Helsinki Final Act having turned 50 in August 2025, this article asks why the OSCE persists despite its apparent failures and the criticism from its illiberal members. It argues that the organization…
Reconfiguring dynamics of bordering/debordering in EU-Eastern neighbours’ relations
EU relations with its eastern neighbours have been pursued with the goal of building a ‘ring of friends’ contributing towards security and stability-building, through reforms’ implementation and the development of closer relations. This transformative agenda met, however, some criticism and resistance from Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries. Russia’s full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022 changed profoundly the setting for these relations, incl…
Nas margens do 25 de Abril
O processo revolucionário encetado pelo 25 de Abril de 1974 surgiu no contexto de uma sociedade esgotada por 48 anos de ditadura e por 13 anos de guerras coloniais. Com a Revolução, esse cansaço foi suplantado por uma explosão social, que se notou no imediato com o aplauso aos militares vitoriosos e, mais tarde, com a grande festa de unificação popular do 1.o de Maio. Emergiram no espaço público não só os chamados “velhos” movimentos sociais, ass…
EU Representations in Portuguese Media and Populism
Mass media mediate different publics, thus being crucial in constructing political reality. By selecting which topics are covered (agenda), which voices are heard, or how social and political issues/actors/dynamics are represented (priming and framing), mass media impacts how political conversations and processes unfold. Acknowledging the increasing mediatisation of politics, this article zooms into media texts of the Portuguese media during a co…
Digital literacy and technopolitics, core enablers in a disintermediated digital political communication age
The growing interconnection of technology and politics and the enactment of particular political goals (technopolitics) has been closely articulated with emotions and the building of foreign policy narratives. In the current context of change in the communication paradigm, global and disintermediated, bringing together in the same digital space distinct actors, and having wide diffusion and reach, the challenges to international politics are dive…
Excelência no ensino e orientação doutorais (Projeto E-Note)
Capitalismo (semi)periférico
Este dossier foi organizado pela coordenação da linha temática “Capitalismo (semi)periférico: crises e alternativas” do Centro de Estudos Sociais (CES) da Universidade de Coimbra. Esta é, como se sabe, uma linha comprometida com, entre outras preocupações, a compreensão das estruturas materiais e institucionais da economia, das condições multidimensionais e multiescalares da democracia, das dinâmicas internacionais de periferização, das relações …
Insecurities in EU border management
The goal of this article is to shed light on how securitization processes at the European Union (EU)'s southern borders - the Mediterranean - are feeding various insecurities both inside and outside the EU. We follow a sociological approach to securitization which revisits the work by Thierry Balzacq. By adding to the conceptualization of securitization processes as speech acts and the outcome of security practices, this approach contributes to u…
Covid-19
A pandemia da COVID-19 constituiu um momento de rutura nas sociedades contemporneas, gerando um "novo normal" em que, como nos lembra Srgio Godinho, "Ningum sabe se sabe / Nem que acaso ou que destino nos cabe". 1 A rpida propagao de um novo vrus respiratrio tornou-se o foco de ateno de governos e da comunicao social a nvel global. No incio de 2020, a cidade chinesa de Wuhan assumiu contornos distpicos, com mais de 11 milhes de habitantes confron…
Vladimir Putin, Twenty Years On
This article touches upon the main dynamics in Russian foreign policy since Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000. Following a Constructivist approach to the analysis of foreign policy, the article positions this study at the intersection of domestic processes and external relations, as well as understanding foreign policy as a combination of material and ideational aspects. The discursive practices that drive foreign policy shaping and making are…
EU and Russia competing projects in the neighbourhood
This paper analyses the development of European security since the end of the Cold War and how the European Union’s and Russia’s understandings of European security have diverged. The paper argues that the competing projects of the EU and Russia in the neighbourhood are a reflection of ontological insecurity which have prevented a renewed European security regime from emerging
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization
This chapter looks at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and what has been Russia’s role within and towards the Organization. Centered around the idea of multilateralism following the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference, the ‘Shanghai Spirit’ became the cornerstone to the Organization’s functioning, together with consensus decision-making and the politically binding character of decisions. The developmen…
The quest for status
Russia’s Power Politics in Ukraine and Syria
This article looks at Russia’s exercise of power politics in Ukraine and Syria as a way of improving its international status. Russia’s recent willingness to use power and coercion is theoretically counterintuitive as it appears to be in dissonance with the prevalent characterisation of the country as a status-overachieving inconsistent power. We argue that this behaviour is not the result of a consistent weighing of status against capabilities, …
The ‘Post-crisis Order’ in the Making
Interdisciplinary Journal of Central & East European Politics and International Relationsother at a drug-store.Having figured that out, they happily set up a new date, arranging to meet at the "same place, same time
EU Relations with the BRICS
The international system is characterized by increasingly interdependent and asymmetrical relations between \nthe constellations of actors that compose it. While the state remains a central reference in international \nrelations, multilevel and multidimensional relationships make the system very complex. The state, international \norganizations, non-state actors, club diplomacy and groups of states (e.g., the Group of 20 [G20] and the \nBRICS gro…
Responsibility to protect’ and the African Union
Despite its many institutional and political weaknesses and limitations, the African Union (AU) has been developing a variety of tools and mechanisms to respond effectively to complex disasters and emergencies (both natural and manmade) by building up a comprehensive regional security architecture. Furthermore, it has become the first and only regional or international organisation to enshrine the principle of ‘responsibility to protect’ (R2P) in…
Managing Crises, Making Peace
In the face of emerging new threats, the EU's capacity to build a distinctive role in crisis management remains problematic. Analysing EU policies and actions, this collection sheds light on the EU's
Russia and the EU in a multipolar world
Andrey Makarychev engages in the debate about the nature of EU–Russia relations, departing from a Constructivist approach and focusing on issues of discourse, identity and norms. The author argues
Russian Reactions towards EU–Black Sea Integration
This paper looks at how Russian policies towards the Black Sea countries have affected its relations with the European Union (EU), departing from Russian foreign policy and how its goals are projected in this area. The analysis seeks to shed light on how Russian political dealings conflate or clash with EU policies developed towards this space. Is the Black Sea area a space for convergence or instead is it promoting dissension in this bilateral r…
Consolidação da paz em Timor-Leste
The Modernisation Agenda in Russian Foreign Policy
This article looks at the concept of modernisation in Russian foreign policy and how modernisation issues have been included in Russian foreign policy discourse and practice. The article focuses on the importance attributed in Russian foreign policy to the modernisation agenda in relations with strategic partners, such as the USA and China, so as to position the European Union (EU)–Russia partnership in this broader framework. By looking at the s…
Entrevista com Roque Rodrigues
Roque Rodrigues é uma figura incontornável da vida política timorense, com um historial de vida que atesta quanto ao seu envolvimento e compromisso para com Timor‐Leste. Sempre presente nos momentos mais difíceis da história deste país, tem também partilhado todos os bons momentos no processo de construção e consolidação do Estado, do qual fala com orgulho sentido. No seu habitual tom cordial e bem‐humorado, Roque Rodrigues, assessor da Presidênc…
Consolidação da paz numa perspetiva crítica
Partindo do debate sobre intervencionismo e em particular discutindo a abordagem das Nações Unidas em termos de manutenção e construção da paz, este artigo adota uma leitura crítica de ações e reações, discurso e prática, bem como de terminologias adotadas e praticadas, sem consensualização quanto a conteúdos. O artigo analisa em particular a intervenção das Nações Unidas em Timor-Leste procurando identificar os principais contributos e limites d…
From words to deeds
This article analyses the European Union (EU)'s engagement in Armenia through policy frameworks (mainly the Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership) and practices, focusing on the correspondence between words and actions in democracy promotion. The article argues that the EU's role in democracy promotion in Armenia has provided grounds for fundamental improvements, but has also been facing several constraints, which result both from the …
Russia’s Power Politics in Ukraine and Syria
This article looks at Russia’s exercise of power politics in Ukraine and Syria as a way of improving its international status. Russia’s recent willingness to use power and coercion is theoretically counterintuitive as it appears to be in dissonance with the prevalent characterisation of the country as a status-overachieving inconsistent power. We argue that this behaviour is not the result of a consistent weighing of status against capabilities, …
The Modernisation Agenda in Russian Foreign Policy
This article looks at the concept of modernisation in Russian foreign policy and how modernisation issues have been included in Russian foreign policy discourse and practice. The article focuses on the importance attributed in Russian foreign policy to the modernisation agenda in relations with strategic partners, such as the USA and China, so as to position the European Union (EU)–Russia partnership in this broader framework. By looking at the s…
EU and Russia competing projects in the neighbourhood
This paper analyses the development of European security since the end of the Cold War and how the European Union’s and Russia’s understandings of European security have diverged. The paper argues that the competing projects of the EU and Russia in the neighbourhood are a reflection of ontological insecurity which have prevented a renewed European security regime from emerging
The quest for status
Peacebuilding in Timor-Leste
This article highlights the importance of interaction between peace missions and local dynamics, drawing on Tsing's work on frictions. It is centred on the United Nations (UN) peace intervention in Timor-Leste, discussing different examples of frictions, which have the potential to undermine or empower the peacebuilding efforts underway. The analysis stresses the unpredictable effects of applying the UN liberal peace model. It is argued that proc…
From words to deeds
This article analyses the European Union (EU)'s engagement in Armenia through policy frameworks (mainly the Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership) and practices, focusing on the correspondence between words and actions in democracy promotion. The article argues that the EU's role in democracy promotion in Armenia has provided grounds for fundamental improvements, but has also been facing several constraints, which result both from the …
EU Relations with the BRICS
The international system is characterized by increasingly interdependent and asymmetrical relations between \nthe constellations of actors that compose it. While the state remains a central reference in international \nrelations, multilevel and multidimensional relationships make the system very complex. The state, international \norganizations, non-state actors, club diplomacy and groups of states (e.g., the Group of 20 [G20] and the \nBRICS gro…
Russian foreign policy in the making
A segurança internacional e a institucionalização da manutenção da paz no âmbito da ONU
A segurança tem vindo a assumir novos contornos em que a manutenção da paz se tornou um elemento central. A sua importância crescente enquanto estratégia de intervenção pacífica no quadro das Nações Unidas (ONU) aumenta o seu potencial para contribuir para uma cultura de segurança internacional mais coerente e flexível. O artigo discute a relação entre segurança internacional e manutenção da paz, enquadrando a análise numa reflexão conceptual de …
Reconfiguring dynamics of bordering/debordering in EU-Eastern neighbours’ relations
EU relations with its eastern neighbours have been pursued with the goal of building a ‘ring of friends’ contributing towards security and stability-building, through reforms’ implementation and the development of closer relations. This transformative agenda met, however, some criticism and resistance from Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries. Russia’s full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022 changed profoundly the setting for these relations, incl…
Capitalismo (semi)periférico
Este dossier foi organizado pela coordenação da linha temática “Capitalismo (semi)periférico: crises e alternativas” do Centro de Estudos Sociais (CES) da Universidade de Coimbra. Esta é, como se sabe, uma linha comprometida com, entre outras preocupações, a compreensão das estruturas materiais e institucionais da economia, das condições multidimensionais e multiescalares da democracia, das dinâmicas internacionais de periferização, das relações …
Insecurities in EU border management
The goal of this article is to shed light on how securitization processes at the European Union (EU)'s southern borders - the Mediterranean - are feeding various insecurities both inside and outside the EU. We follow a sociological approach to securitization which revisits the work by Thierry Balzacq. By adding to the conceptualization of securitization processes as speech acts and the outcome of security practices, this approach contributes to u…
Covid-19
A pandemia da COVID-19 constituiu um momento de rutura nas sociedades contemporneas, gerando um "novo normal" em que, como nos lembra Srgio Godinho, "Ningum sabe se sabe / Nem que acaso ou que destino nos cabe". 1 A rpida propagao de um novo vrus respiratrio tornou-se o foco de ateno de governos e da comunicao social a nvel global. No incio de 2020, a cidade chinesa de Wuhan assumiu contornos distpicos, com mais de 11 milhes de habitantes confron…
Responsibility to protect’ and the African Union
Despite its many institutional and political weaknesses and limitations, the African Union (AU) has been developing a variety of tools and mechanisms to respond effectively to complex disasters and emergencies (both natural and manmade) by building up a comprehensive regional security architecture. Furthermore, it has become the first and only regional or international organisation to enshrine the principle of ‘responsibility to protect’ (R2P) in…
Consolidação da paz numa perspetiva crítica
Partindo do debate sobre intervencionismo e em particular discutindo a abordagem das Nações Unidas em termos de manutenção e construção da paz, este artigo adota uma leitura crítica de ações e reações, discurso e prática, bem como de terminologias adotadas e praticadas, sem consensualização quanto a conteúdos. O artigo analisa em particular a intervenção das Nações Unidas em Timor-Leste procurando identificar os principais contributos e limites d…
Realpolitik Dynamics and Image Construction in the Russia-China Relationship
Russia and China are two big players in the international system, both of which share interests and concerns and compete for preponderance and affirmation at the regional level. As a framework for political-military cooperation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) frames this relationship in an institutional setting that might be understood as a tool for rapprochement between Moscow and Beijing or as a strategic manoeuvre for balancing an…
International Relations in Portugal
This paper appraises the evolution of International Relations (IR) as an academic discipline in Portugal before engaging in an examination of the present state of the field. It is concerned with historical issues, associated with the discipline's journey towards its standing as a social science in its own right in Portuguese intellectual life. It considers institutional developments including those recently generated by the implementation of the …
Reconceptualizar a paz e a violência
Os estudos para a paz encontram-se actualmente numa encruzilhada, sendo criticados pelo seu programa de investigação demasiado amplo, pela sua posição acrítica relativamente à terminologia utilizada e pela desconexão entre investigação e acção. Este artigo propõe a reconceptualização do núcleo teórico dos estudos para a paz, não só retomando a paz como valor central, mas também enquadrando o binómio investigação-acção numa cultura da paz. Parte‐s…
Crisis management
Maria Raquel Sousa Freire is an assistant professor, Department of International Relations, Universidade Lusíada do Porto, Portugal. Her research focuses on the former Soviet space and the role of international organisations in conflict and security issues
Poland at the Crossroads
The OSCE's post-September 11 agenda, and Central Asia
With an enlarged membership and a wide agenda including politico-security matters, economic and environmental issues and human aspects, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) aims at promoting stability and democratisation in its area, fostering good governance.The September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001 have prompted the organisation to reinforce its commitments with regard to the prevention of and combat agains…
Reconceptualizar a paz e a violência
Os estudos para a paz encontram-se actualmente numa encruzilhada, sendo criticados pelo seu programa de investigação demasiado amplo, pela sua posição acrítica relativamente à terminologia utilizada e pela desconexão entre investigação e acção. Este artigo propõe a reconceptualização do núcleo teórico dos estudos para a paz, não só retomando a paz como valor central, mas também enquadrando o binómio investigação-acção numa cultura da paz. Parte‐s…
Introdução
Este número temático centra-se nas missões de peacekeeping da Organização das Nações Unidas. No contexto actual estas missões tornaram-se um elemento central da estratégia das Nações Unidas para a promoção da paz e segurança internacionais. Esta estratégia tem evoluído em termos de mandatos, actores envolvidos e cenários de crise. A amplificação das intervenções envolve um grande número de diferentes actores para além das Nações Unidas, promovend…
Realpolitik Dynamics and Image Construction in the Russia-China Relationship
Russia and China are two big players in the international system, both of which share interests and concerns and compete for preponderance and affirmation at the regional level. As a framework for political-military cooperation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) frames this relationship in an institutional setting that might be understood as a tool for rapprochement between Moscow and Beijing or as a strategic manoeuvre for balancing an…
International Relations in Portugal
This paper appraises the evolution of International Relations (IR) as an academic discipline in Portugal before engaging in an examination of the present state of the field. It is concerned with historical issues, associated with the discipline's journey towards its standing as a social science in its own right in Portuguese intellectual life. It considers institutional developments including those recently generated by the implementation of the …
A segurança internacional e a institucionalização da manutenção da paz no âmbito da ONU
A segurança tem vindo a assumir novos contornos em que a manutenção da paz se tornou um elemento central. A sua importância crescente enquanto estratégia de intervenção pacífica no quadro das Nações Unidas (ONU) aumenta o seu potencial para contribuir para uma cultura de segurança internacional mais coerente e flexível. O artigo discute a relação entre segurança internacional e manutenção da paz, enquadrando a análise numa reflexão conceptual de …
Russian foreign policy in the making
A política externa russa e a Primavera Árabe
From words to deeds
This article analyses the European Union (EU)'s engagement in Armenia through policy frameworks (mainly the Neighbourhood Policy and the Eastern Partnership) and practices, focusing on the correspondence between words and actions in democracy promotion. The article argues that the EU's role in democracy promotion in Armenia has provided grounds for fundamental improvements, but has also been facing several constraints, which result both from the …
Peacebuilding in Timor-Leste
This article highlights the importance of interaction between peace missions and local dynamics, drawing on Tsing's work on frictions. It is centred on the United Nations (UN) peace intervention in Timor-Leste, discussing different examples of frictions, which have the potential to undermine or empower the peacebuilding efforts underway. The analysis stresses the unpredictable effects of applying the UN liberal peace model. It is argued that proc…
Política externa russa
Este texto analisa a política externa da Rússia seguindo duas linhas orientadoras principais: por um lado, a complementaridade entre aspetos materiais e aspetos ideacionais nos processos de política externa; e por outro, a inter-relação entre o ambiente doméstico e o contexto internacional nas dinâmicas de política externa. O artigo argumenta que apesar de linhas de continuidade na política externa russa, assente essencialmente em pressupostos de…
Russian Reactions towards EU–Black Sea Integration
This paper looks at how Russian policies towards the Black Sea countries have affected its relations with the European Union (EU), departing from Russian foreign policy and how its goals are projected in this area. The analysis seeks to shed light on how Russian political dealings conflate or clash with EU policies developed towards this space. Is the Black Sea area a space for convergence or instead is it promoting dissension in this bilateral r…
Consolidação da paz em Timor-Leste
The Modernisation Agenda in Russian Foreign Policy
This article looks at the concept of modernisation in Russian foreign policy and how modernisation issues have been included in Russian foreign policy discourse and practice. The article focuses on the importance attributed in Russian foreign policy to the modernisation agenda in relations with strategic partners, such as the USA and China, so as to position the European Union (EU)–Russia partnership in this broader framework. By looking at the s…
Entrevista com Roque Rodrigues
Roque Rodrigues é uma figura incontornável da vida política timorense, com um historial de vida que atesta quanto ao seu envolvimento e compromisso para com Timor‐Leste. Sempre presente nos momentos mais difíceis da história deste país, tem também partilhado todos os bons momentos no processo de construção e consolidação do Estado, do qual fala com orgulho sentido. No seu habitual tom cordial e bem‐humorado, Roque Rodrigues, assessor da Presidênc…
Consolidação da paz numa perspetiva crítica
Partindo do debate sobre intervencionismo e em particular discutindo a abordagem das Nações Unidas em termos de manutenção e construção da paz, este artigo adota uma leitura crítica de ações e reações, discurso e prática, bem como de terminologias adotadas e praticadas, sem consensualização quanto a conteúdos. O artigo analisa em particular a intervenção das Nações Unidas em Timor-Leste procurando identificar os principais contributos e limites d…
Managing Crises, Making Peace
In the face of emerging new threats, the EU's capacity to build a distinctive role in crisis management remains problematic. Analysing EU policies and actions, this collection sheds light on the EU's
Russia and the EU in a multipolar world
Andrey Makarychev engages in the debate about the nature of EU–Russia relations, departing from a Constructivist approach and focusing on issues of discourse, identity and norms. The author argues
Responsibility to protect’ and the African Union
Despite its many institutional and political weaknesses and limitations, the African Union (AU) has been developing a variety of tools and mechanisms to respond effectively to complex disasters and emergencies (both natural and manmade) by building up a comprehensive regional security architecture. Furthermore, it has become the first and only regional or international organisation to enshrine the principle of ‘responsibility to protect’ (R2P) in…
The ‘Post-crisis Order’ in the Making
Interdisciplinary Journal of Central & East European Politics and International Relationsother at a drug-store.Having figured that out, they happily set up a new date, arranging to meet at the "same place, same time
EU Relations with the BRICS
The international system is characterized by increasingly interdependent and asymmetrical relations between \nthe constellations of actors that compose it. While the state remains a central reference in international \nrelations, multilevel and multidimensional relationships make the system very complex. The state, international \norganizations, non-state actors, club diplomacy and groups of states (e.g., the Group of 20 [G20] and the \nBRICS gro…
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization
This chapter looks at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and what has been Russia’s role within and towards the Organization. Centered around the idea of multilateralism following the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference, the ‘Shanghai Spirit’ became the cornerstone to the Organization’s functioning, together with consensus decision-making and the politically binding character of decisions. The developmen…
The quest for status
Political science (27 works) · Law (19 works) · Sociology (19 works) · Politics (18 works) · Economics (15 works) · Political economy (15 works) · Law (13 works) · International Relations and Foreign Policy (10 works) · Peacebuilding and International Security (10 works) · Global Peace and Security Dynamics (9 works)