Sandra Fernandes is a professor and researcher at the University of Minho, with a PhD in Political Science with specialization in International Relations from Sciences Po Paris. She is the director of the Research Center in Political Science (CICP), which has been recognized as "Excellent" by the FCT. Her research interests include the external action of the European Union and its relations with Russia, the post-Soviet space, geopolitics, multilateralism, foreign policy analysis and international security.
Her contributions to the field have received recognition, including the Jacques Delors Prize (2005), the election to the governing bodies of the Portuguese Association of Political Science, the nomination to represent the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education for higher education of the armed forces, and invitations to a wide range of universities, namely in Belgium, Slovenia, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Türkiye and Russia.
She has collaborated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Portugal and of several other countries, with the Ministry of National Defense and has been invited to exercise functions as a dialogue facilitator.
She is the author of more than 100 academic publications, including international indexed works. Her regular contributions to media and opinion articles are an additional platform for sharing her expertise with a broader audience.
European Studies
Post-soviet Space
EU-Russia Relations
Geopolitics
Foreign Policy Analysis
International Security
Multilateralism
Selected publications
Resende, M. M., Rocha, B., & Fernandes, S. (2024). The logic of distinction: nationalism and status seeking in Germany. Brazilian Journal of International Relations , 67(1). DOI
Weiss, T., Fernandes, S., & Pisklová, M. (2024). Institutional inertia and change: Explaining the Czech and Portuguese Engagement in European Defence Market Integration. Journal of Common Market Studies, 62(3), 784–800. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Ferreira, D. S. (2023). Portugal in the nuclear realm: A case of broad multilateralization. International Politics, 1–22. DOI
Delcour, L., & Fernandes, S. (2016). Visa liberalization processes in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood: understanding policy outcomes. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 1–20. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2016). EU-Russia relations and norms diffusion: the role of non-state actors. In R. Piet & L. Simão (Eds.), Security in Shared Neighbourhoods - Foreign Policy of Russia Turkey, and the EU (pp. 75–94). London: Palgrave MacMillan. DOI
Other publications
Fernandes, S., & Simão, L. Os conceitos e a evolução do multilateralismo: o nexo reflexão-ação. In S. F. e Licínia Simão (Ed.), O Multilateralismo: Conceitos e Práticas no Século XXI (pp. 9–17). Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra. DOI
Camisão, I., & Fernandes, S. (2024). Portugal in the European Union. In N. Monteiro, P. Silva, & P. C. Magalhães (Eds.), Portugal in the Twenty-First Century (pp. 151–168). Routledge. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Ferreira, D. S. (2024). Decoding Portugal’s role in nuclear multilateralism. The Academic. DOI
Fernandes, S., & de Matos, M. G. (2024). The crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh: A complex geopolitical game. Janus.Net, 15(2), 281–294. DOI
Resende, M. M., Rocha, B., & Fernandes, S. (2024). The logic of distinction: nationalism and status seeking in Germany. Brazilian Journal of International Relations , 67(1). DOI
Weiss, T., Fernandes, S., & Pisklová, M. (2024). Institutional inertia and change: Explaining the Czech and Portuguese Engagement in European Defence Market Integration. Journal of Common Market Studies, 62(3), 784–800. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2023). Nota Introdutória. A guerra da Rússia na Ucrânia: o primeiro balanço. Relações Internacionais, 77, 5–9. DOI
Fernandes, S., & (Ageeva), V. G. (2023). O esfriamento da amizade entre a Ásia Central e a Rússia após a guerra na Ucrânia. Relações Internacionais, 77, 63–71. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Duarte, P. A. B. (2023). The Arctic as the new frontier of (in)security: assessing Sino-Russian revisionism. Security Forum, 31–41. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Ferreira, D. S. (2023). Portugal in the nuclear realm: A case of broad multilateralization. International Politics, 1–22. DOI
Fernandes, S., Crespo, N., Gaspar, C., & Reis, B. C. (2023). Da Pandemia à Guerra: Impacto das alterações geopolíticas na economia portuguesa. Conselho Económico e Social and Caleidoscópio. DOI
Delcour, L., & Fernandes, S. (2022). ‘Estonisation’ and its limits: threat perceptions and integration in the EU and NATO. In T. Weiss & G. Edwards (Eds.), Small States and Security in Europe: Between National and International Policy-Making (pp. 171–186). Routledge. DOI
Duarte, P. A. B., & Fernandes, S. (2022). A nova geopolítica do Ártico: o fator chinês. Argos - Revista Do Museu Marítimo De Ílhavo, (10), 66–72. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2022). O impacto da guerra na Ucrânia nas relações UE-Rússia. Anuário Janus 2022, 14–15. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2022). Portugal na Europa e no mundo: a força do multilateralismo. Anuário Janus 2022, 146–147. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Cruz, M. (2022). O dilema de segurança na nova Estratégia Nacional de Segurança russa: entre militarismo e pivot geográfico. Janus.Net, 13(1). DOI
Fernandes, S., & Cruz, M. (2022). O panorama securitário europeu em face da Guerra da Ucrânia: virada de 180 graus e perspectivas. In F. Loureiro (Ed.), Linha Vermelha. A Guerra da Ucrânia e as Relações Internacionais no século XXI (Vol. 1ª, pp. 306–325). Editora Unicamp. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Viana, P. (2022). Kaliningrad and the Lithuanian “Geopolitical Code.” Sovremennaya Evropa, 2022(1), 73–85. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2021). INTERPOL. In N. S. Teixeira & A. Cunha (Eds.), Portugal Multilateral (Vol. 2, pp. 163–171). Almedina. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2021). Intra-European Union Dynamics: The Interplay of Divergences and Convergences. In T. Romanova & M. David (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of EU-Russia Relations. Structures, Actors, Issues (pp. 37–47). Routledge. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2021). Os três vetores da Política Externa Portuguesa. In G. P. Е. В. Астахова Г. В. Петрова & М. С. Хван [E. Astákhova & M. Khvan] (Eds.), Португальский язык. Перевод и общественно-политическая лексика. Учебник в двух частях. Уровни В2-С1 [Português. Manual de tradução. Linguagem dos meios de comunicação social. Níveis B2-C1] (Vol. 1, pp. 224–226). MGIMO. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2021). Rússia: Estratégia de Segurança Nacional. In P. Seabra (Ed.), Documentos Estratégicos de Segurança e Defesa (Vol. 44, pp. 119–128). Instituto de Defesa Nacional. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Ageeva, V. (2021). New Russian Geopolitics: Reviving Past Perceptions and Ambitions. In N. Morgado (Ed.), Geopolitics in the Twenty-First Century: Territories, Identities, and Foreign Policies (pp. 31–56). Nova Science Publishers. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Lobo-Fernandes, L. (2021). Uma forte presença no mundo: A Diplomacia Portuguesa e a Rússia. Negócios Estrangeiros, 21, 1–15. DOI
Fernandes, S. D., & Ageeva, V. (2020). Facing China in Eurasia: The Russian perspective. In F. J. B. S. Leandro & P. A. B. Duarte (Eds.), The Belt and Road Initiative: An Old Archetype of a New Development Model (pp. 523–540). Palgrave MacMillan. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Saraiva, L. E. (2020). Após as Novas Guerras: Repensar a Violência em Relações Internacionais (1st ed., Vol. 35). Lisboa: Instituto Universitário Militar . DOI
Fernandes, S., & Saraiva, L. E. (2020). Conclusão. In S. F. e Luís Eduardo Saraiva (Ed.), Após as Novas Guerras: Repensar a Violência em Relações Internacionais (Vol. 35, pp. 185–190). Lisboa: Instituto Universitário Militar . DOI
Fernandes, S., & Saraiva, L. E. (2020). Introdução. In S. Fernandes & L. E. Saraiva (Eds.), Após as Novas Guerras: Repensar a Violência em Relações Internacionais (Vol. 35, pp. 1–8). Lisboa: Instituto Universitário Militar . DOI
Fernandes, S., & Saraiva, L. E. (2020). O que são as “novas guerras”: debates sobre a mudança de paradigma. In S. Fernandes & L. E. Saraiva (Eds.), Após as Novas Guerras: Repensar a Violência em Relações Internacionais (Vol. 35, pp. 9–26). Lisboa: Instituto Universitário Militar . DOI
Fernandes, S., & Viegas, A. (2020). O contributo do Canadá numa ordem liberal em turbulência: a “segurança humana” e os refugiados. In M. F. Monte, J. F. da Rocha, & M. de Assunção do Vale Pereira (Eds.), Estudos em Homenagem ao Prof. Doutor Wladimir Brito (pp. 1461–1480 ). Coimbra: Almedina. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2019). As relações União Europeia-Rússia: uma prática de multilateralismo multinível. In S. F. e Licínia Simão (Ed.), O Multilateralismo: Conceitos e Práticas no Século XXI. Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Makarychev, A. (2019). Estonia and Portugal in Europe: escaping peripherality, capitalizing on marginality. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 27(4), 394–408. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Makarychev, A. (2019). Studying European margins in the illiberal turn: a spacio-normative approach. Journal of Contemporary European Studies. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Simão, L. (2019). O Multilateralismo: Conceitos e Práticas no Século XXI. Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Simão, L. (2019). As novas promessas do multilateralismo. In S. Fernandes & L. Simão (Eds.), O Multilateralismo: Conceitos e Práticas no Século XXI (pp. 117–140). Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra. DOI
Carvalhais, I. E., & Fernandes, S. (2018). Resisting Euroscepticism and Anti-Refugee Populism in Europe: The Portuguese Case. In T. Agarin & N. Nancheva (Eds.), A European Crisis - Perspectives on Refugees, Solidarity, and Europe. (Ibiden Verlag., p. 288). Suttgart: Ibidem Verlag. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2018). Security Union and the digital sphere: unpacking securitization processes. UNIO - EU Law Journal, 4(2), 42–47. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2018). The European Union and Russia during the two waves of enlargement: New political and implementation rationales on old issues. Law in Eastern Europe, 67, 277–292. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Correia, D. (2018). (Re) securitisation in Europe: the Baltic States and Russia. Debater Europa, (18), 103–129. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Correia, D. (2018). (Re)bordering between the EU and Russia: threat perceptions, stigmatisation and the Baltic States. In D. Chaves, D. J. A. Pinto, & M. R. Freire (Eds.), Fronteiras Contemporâneas Comparadas: Desenvolvimento, Segurança e Cidadania [Contemporary Compared Borders: Development, Security and Citizenhip] (1st ed., pp. 1–24). Editora da Universidade Federal do Amapá. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Sidani, S. (2018). Déviance et contestation de l’ordre international. Le cas de la Russie. In S. P. Delphine Allès Romain Malejacq (Ed.), Un monde fragmenté. Autour de la sociologie des Relations internationales de Bertrand Badie (pp. 139–158). Paris: CNRS. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Tavares, J. (2018). A cultura negocial russa e chinesa em perspetiva comparada. In S. Antunes, I. Camisão, & S. Ribeiro (Eds.), Negociação Internacional. Estratégias e Táticas (pp. 143–166). Sílabas & Desafios. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2017). A (re)securitização da Europa após a Crimeia: consequências para a ação externa da União Europeia. Tempo Exterior – Revista De Análise e Estudos Internacionais, 18(35). DOI
Fernandes, S. (2017). Relações EU-Rússia. In A. P. Brandão, F. P. Coutinho, J. C. Abreu, & I. Camisão (Eds.), Enciclopédia da União Europeia (pp. 398–401). Lisboa: Editora Petrony. DOI
Fernandes, S., Valente, I., & Freire, R. (2017). Polycentrism in a post-hegemonic world and the future of the European Union. In Á. Vasconcelos (Ed.), Tendências Globais 2030: Os Futuros de Portugal (pp. 91–105). Fundação de Serralves. DOI
Delcour, L., & Fernandes, S. (2016). Visa liberalization processes in the EU’s Eastern neighbourhood: understanding policy outcomes. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 1–20. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2016). EU-Russia relations and norms diffusion: the role of non-state actors. In R. Piet & L. Simão (Eds.), Security in Shared Neighbourhoods - Foreign Policy of Russia Turkey, and the EU (pp. 75–94). London: Palgrave MacMillan. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2016). The 2007 Portuguese Presidency of the European Union and Russia. Debater Europa, 15(Julho-Dezembro), 149–169. DOI
Fernandes, S. D., & Estrada, I. (2016). Portugal: Waiting for Better in the Adversity. In V. Pertusot (Ed.), The European Union in the Fog: Building Bridges Between National Perspectives on the EU (pp. 177–184). France: IFRI. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Carvalhais, I. E. (2016). Portugal: a weak case for Euroscepticism. In K. B. (ed.) (Ed.), Euroscepticism in Small EU Member States (pp. 47–60). Riga, Latvia: Latvian Institute of International Affairs . DOI
Fernandes, S., & Freire, M. R. (2016). Polycentrism in a post-hegemonic world and the future of the European Union. Debater Europa, 15(Julho-Dezembro), 59–70. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2015). European Security Architecture: Fading or Adapting? In R. Kanet & M. Sussex (Eds.), Power, Politics and Confrontation in Eurasia (First published., pp. 89–110). Hampshire and New York: Palgrave MacMillan. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2015). Rússia. In J. T. da Silva (Ed.), BRICS e a Nova Ordem Internacional (pp. 117–170). Lisboa e Aveiro: Caleidoscópio. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2014). Putin's foreign policy towards europe: Evolving trends of an (un) avoidable relationship. In R. E. Kanet & R. Piet (Eds.), Shifting Priorities in Russia's Foreign and Security Policy (pp. 13–34). Ashgate. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2014). Putin’s Foreign Policy towards Europe: Evolving Trends of an (Un)Avoidable Relationship. In R. Kanet & R. Piet (Eds.), Shifting Priorities in Russia's Foreign and Security Policy (pp. 13–34). Ashgate. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2014). Rússia e União Europeia: dois gigantes e um continente. In R. Freire & P. Daehnardt (Eds.), Nova Dinâmicas da Política Externa Russa: Desafios no Espaço Euro-atlântico (pp. 199–222). Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2013). A Política Externa da Nova Rússia: entre Velhos Dilemas e Novas Asserções. In P. A. Oliveira (Ed.), O Fim da URSS, a Nova Rússia e a Crise das Esquerdas (pp. 125–141). Lisboa: Colibri. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2013). The European Union Institutional Balance: Assessment of its Impact on the Relationship with Russia . In T. Cierco (Ed.), The European Union Neighbourhood (pp. 143–171). Ashgate. DOI
Fernandes, S. D. (2013). The EU institutional balance: assessment of its impact on the relationship with Russia. In T. Cierco (Ed.), The European Union Neighbourhood: Ten Years into the New Millennium (pp. 143–172). Surrey and Burlington: Ashgate. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2012). The European Union and the Medvedev Proposal: A Breakthrough or an Empty Shell? In R. Kanet & R. Freire (Eds.), Russian and European Security (pp. 261–285). Dordrecht: Republic of Letters Publishing. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2011). European Security Through EU-Russian Relations: Towards a New Multilateral Order. Journal of Contemporary European Research, 7(2), 195–215. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2010). NATO e Rússia: novos lances estratégicos. Relações Internacionais, (27), 45–53. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2010). Os limites da Hegemonia na ordem global . Relações Internacionais, (28), 199–203. DOI
Fernandes, S., & Simão, L. (2010). Competing for Eurasia: The European Union and Russian Perspectives. In R. Kanet & R. Freire (Eds.), Russia in Eurasia: External Players and Regional Dynamics (pp. 103–125). Palgrave MacMillan. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2009). Decifrar a potência Russa. Relações Internacionais, 21, 79–85. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2009). ESDP and Russia: A decade of unfulfilled promise. Contributions to Conflict Management, Peace Economics and Development, 12(PART 1), 233–258. DOI
Makarychev, A., & Fernandes, S. (2009). Security in Europe After August 2008: the EU, Russia and Their 'Common' Neighbourhood. Georgian Institute for Russian Studies. DOI
Saraiva, L., & Fernandes, S. (2009). ESDP in Strategic Neighbourhoods: Promises of Stability through International Military Cooperation. Portuguese Journal of International Affairs, (1), 22–31. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2008). Debate: uma nova Guera Fria? No rescaldo da crise russo-georgiana: à procura de um modelo de ‘cooperação selectiva. Relações Internacionais, (20), 58–61. DOI
Fernandes, S. (2006). A (I) Maturidade da Relação entre a União Europeia e a Rússia: The (I) Maturity of the Relationship between the European Union and Russia. Perspectivas-Journal of Political Science, 2, 89–103. DOI
Fernandes, S. D. (2006). Europa (In)Segura. União Europeia, Rússia, Aliança Atlântica: a Institucionalização de uma Relação Estratégica (1st ed.). Principia. DOI
Advanced Complements of International Relations
Doctorate
Contemporary Diplomacy
Bachelor
Geopolitics and Strategy
Bachelor
History of International Relations
Bachelor
International Politics
Bachelor
Theory of International Relations I
Bachelor
Theory of International Relations II
Bachelor
