Giuseppe Formato

ExPORT: Cultural Diplomacy and National Rebranding between Portugal and the United States (1933–1974), led by Annarita Gori, is a multidisciplinary research project that examines how the Estado Novo regime used soft power to advance its political, economic, and geopolitical goals in the United States. It explores how Portugal promoted its culture, landscapes, cinema, folklore, and religious symbols to reshape its international image, strengthen bilateral relations, and influence Luso American communities, particularly in New England.

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The project’s central hypothesis is that the regime intensified its cultural diplomacy during periods of diplomatic tension with the US, using culture as a strategic tool to secure international legitimacy and reinforce stability at home. Drawing on written, visual, and audiovisual materials from Portuguese and American archives, ExPORT reinterprets soft power as a multidimensional instrument operating at the intersection of culture, politics, and economics.

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Hosted at the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon and funded by FCT, ExPORT brings together institutional partners in Portugal and the United States to offer a transnational reassessment of the Estado Novo’s engagement with America and the broader role of culture in authoritarian diplomacy.