Participação das Forças Armadas Portuguesas na ISAF

: contributo para a segurança e estabilização do Afeganistão

Abstract

Composed by fifty - one States and lasting for thirteen years, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was the largest alliance and the most challenging mission of NATO until today. Being this the first time that the Article V was evoked, Portugal was assigned to participate in the mission in Afghanistan in 2002 with the aim of ensuring stability and security of the country, in cooperation with others participating States. The Portuguese military ended their participation after twelve years, eight national contingents and the participation of the three branches of the Armed Forces. This research project aims to promote the role the Armed Forces in international operations and its contributions in counter insurgency and stabilization operations. Furthermore, it is imperative to understand that the role of the Portuguese Armed Forces, in keeping Afghanistan safe, not only aims to fight fundamentalist and terrorist organizations, but as well as to settle the conflict environment, to achieve peace, to promote a safe theatre of operations, to mentor Afghan national forces and to participate in the transition of a democratic Afghan government capable of ensuring the wellbeing of its citizens . Thus, it was analysed the commitment of the 8th National Contingent during the period between May 12, 2014 and November 28, 2014, and its contributions in the field of security and stabilization of Afghanistan. The main question associated to this research is "Was the 8º Portuguese National Contingent able to ensure the stability and security of the Afghan State during its period of intervention?". The response to it has been achieved through the case study, with a hypothetic deductive approach. Data was collected through interviews, in an exploratory phase, and questionnaires for the analytical phase.

Date of Award	18 Jul 2017
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Francisco Proença Garcia (Supervisor)