Description
Can sovereignty over small insular regions significantly affect a state’s strategy? The case of the remote Portuguese archipelago of the Azores, lying between Europe and North America in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean, shows us that small islands can, under certain conditions, determine the orientation of national strategy. In this paper, I identify the main strategic functions performed by the Azores during the Cold War. Then, I show how these functions have both constrained and enabled Portuguese strategy at various moments during the Cold War. I find that at certain times the existence of the Azores gave central decision-makers more leeway in following strategies they were already intent on pursuing; while at other times the Azores forced the government in Lisbon to adapt its strategic principles, plans, and behaviour, closing off options which it may have preferred. Lastly, I attempt to draw general lessons about the management of strategically significant islands by central governments from the impact of the Azores on Portuguese strategy in the Cold War.
