The further inside foreign affairs you get, the clearer its blind spots become. This is an analyst's attempt to name them.
Maria Luísa Moreira has spent her career close to the rooms where international relations are made and writing about what those rooms consistently get wrong.
An award-winning foreign affairs analyst, columnist, and founder of The Diplomat's Cabinet, she has worked in public diplomacy, media and strategic communications across the Council of the EU, the British and Canadian Foreign Offices and the European Youth Press. Her research on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda was awarded first prize by the Portuguese Ministry of Defence in 2021 and featured at the 2022 NATO Youth Summit in Brussels. She is a GLOBSEC Young Fellow and former principal investigator on a Google-funded research project on European geopolitical competitiveness.
In 2023, she left institutional life for six months in South America and came back certain of one thing: the stories told about foreign affairs are broken because they exclude the people most impacted by them. Fixing this requires better communicators. The Diplomat's Cabinet is that argument, made fortnightly.
She writes a weekly column, Mala Diplomática, for Negócios, and is a regular analyst and commentator on CNN Portugal. She holds an MSc from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a BA from the University of Essex. She is a retired karate and equestrian dressage athlete now building discipline and focus through journals, books and travels. She is based in Lisbon after years in the UK and Brasil.
Luísa’s work [selected]
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Luísa has authored ≈50 opinion articles in newspapers, most notably as a resident columnist for Negócios (Portugal's leading business daily). Listed below are her favourites:
Um big beautiful regime de cleptocracia e oligarquia, Negócios, Jan 2026. What Trumpism reveals about democratic backsliding when you stop calling it populism. Read →Kit para sobreviver mais de 72 horas na Europa, Negócios, Aug 2025. European defence preparedness through the lens of the people it is supposed to protect. Read →
Nem uma palavra sobre o Afeganistão, Negócios, Sep 2024. On the international community's silence about Afghanistan and whose rights count in foreign affairs. Read →
Política externa não deu votos, mas poderá dar guerra, Expresso, Apr 2024. Why Portugal treats foreign affairs as someone else's problem and what that costs. Read →
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Ensaios de Política de Defesa Nacional, Fronteira do Caos, 2023. Co-authored award-winning research recognised by the Portuguese Ministry of Defence DGPDN Prize. View →Soberania — 45 convidados em 16 conversas, Diário de Bordo, 2024. Contributing voice on sovereignty alongside 44 thinkers and practitioners. View →
Promover a ciência, a cultura e a educação, Plataforma para o Crescimento Sustentável, 2023. Co-authored policy brief on science, culture and education for a more competitive and just society. Read →
The Invisible Pandemic: Domestic Violence Within EU Borders, LSE Centre for Women, Peace and Security Research, 2020. How the denial by EU member states of the structural gendered inequalities in our societies has led to alarming domestic violence. Read →
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CNN Portugal regular analyst and commentator on geopolitics, diplomacy, U.S. politics, human rights, 2024 to present. Watch →NOW Guerra e Paz, multiple TV appearances with record ratings in 2025 and 2026, with analysis on Trump, Ukraine, NATO and European security. Watch →
RTP Sociedade Civil, on the ability to influence public opinion as a commentator, Ep. 98, Season 21, May 2025. Watch →
RTP É ou Não É, panel debate on what to expect from Trump’s new term and administration, Feb 2025. Watch →
RTP Antena 3, career and life interview by Diana Duarte for A Minha Geração, Apr 2023. Watch →
Friends of Europe, commentary on the Portuguese legislative election results, May 2025. Listen →
Renascença, commentary on gender and presidential elections from Hillary Clinton to Kamala Harris, Nov 2024. Listen →
Renascença, US election results and EU shockwaves analysis with Manuel Poêjo Torres, Nov 2024. Read →
Público, UK election night analysis, Jul 2024. Read →
Gendering IR Podcast, interview on the importance the WPS Agenda today, May 2023. Listen →
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Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, panelist on the 45th Plenary of the National Commission for Human Rights, highlighting own feminist foreign policy research, Dec 2025. View →Ministry of Defence of Portugal, keynote speaker on the Navy’s official celebration of women’s roles in the armed forces, Mar 2023. View →
GLOBSEC Forum 2024, panel moderator with Ana Isabel Xavier, SecState at the Ministry of Defence of Portugal and Maha Yahya, Director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, Sep 2024. View →
NATO, master’s of ceremonies for the 46th NATO Committee on Gender Perspectives Annual Conference in Brussels, Oct 2022. View →
Portugal Tech Week, moderator of two Defence Tech panels focusing on venture capital, startups and European resilience in 2024 and 2025. View →
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From agronomy to leadership, young people must shape democracy now [interview by ML Moreira], European Youth Press, 26 Jan 2026. View →Sustainability without empathy leaves people behind, warns climate justice activist [interview by ML Moreira], European Youth Press, 24 Jan 2026. View →
“Local politics isn’t a spectator sport for young people,” says 28-year-old elected official [interview by ML Moreira], European Youth Press, 21 Jan 2026. View →
Injustice makes Otilia Colceriu’s blood boil. That’s why she fights [interview by ML Moreira], European Youth Press, 19 Jan 2026. View →
How a 23-year-old historian became the country’s digital memory curator [interview by ML Moreira], European Youth Press, 17 Jan 2026. View →
The best way to represent young people is to let young people do it themselves [interview by ML Moreira], European Youth Press, 15 Jan 2026. View →
Knowing your body is power: Why menstrual literacy matters more than ever [interview by ML Moreira], European Youth Press, 13 Jan 2026. View →
Outside the norm: Diana Reis on changing what disability means in Europe [interview by ML Moreira], European Youth Press, 05 Dec 2025. View →