– Presentation of Academic Presses – OPENING SESSION:

Greg Ballard – Mayor of Indianapolis;
James Edwards – Presidente,Anderson University;
Nuno Brito – Ambassador of Portugal to the United States;
Jack Martins – Senator,new York State;
Paulo Teves – Regional Director of Communities, Government of the Azores;
Teresa Cid – Vice-President,University of Lisbon;
Irene Maria Blayer – Brock University,Canada;
Francisco C.Fagundes – University of Massachusetts,USA;
Dulce Maria Scott – Anderson University,USA

– PAINEL: DIPLOMACY AND POLITICS – DIPLOMACIA E POLÍTICA

Moderador:George Perry, The University of Texas at San Antonio,USA

Nuno Brito, Embaixador de Portugal nos Estados Unidos : “Relações Diplomáticas entre Estados Unidos e Portugal”/ “Diplomatic Relations Between the United States and Portugal”

Diaspora communities have come to play an increasingly important role in the global economy and in socioeconomic and cultural interchanges with the ancestral country. This presentation examines diplomatic relations between Portugal and the United States as well as the role played by Portuguese American communities as intermediaries between these two nations.

Jack Martins, Senador, Estado de New York: “Portuguese Americans in Politics”
“Portuguese Americans in Politics”

This presentation examines processes related to the political integration of Portuguese Americans in the United States. A personal journey into politics illustrates the process of political incorporation in the state of New York.

Paulo Teves,Government of the Azores-Portugal: ” A manutenção do relacionamento das diásporas, o caso dos Açores;

My presentation addresses the relationship between the Azores and its diasporic communities in the Americas. It analyses the measures undertaken to maintain immigrants and their children connected and identified with their ancestral Azorean homeland. We will engage in a reflection concerning possibilities for the future.

Luís Manuel Vieira de Andrade,Universidade dos Açores: ” Açores-Portugal Transatlantic Relations: a Portuguese Perspective.

I will discuss, first of all, in a holistic perspective, the general relationship between the E.U. and the United States, mainly in what pertains to NATO and the E.U. Common Foreign and Defense Policy. Secondly, I will analyze the bilateral relationship between Portugal and the United States of America, focusing mainly in the role played by the archipelago of the Azores. Within this context, I will focus on the problematic concerning Lajes Air Base, as well as the recent decision of the U.S. Administration in reducing its presence there and the effects that this measure will have on the local community.

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