Fifty Years Since the Carnation Revolution: An Assessment

Joint event with The European Conservative.

As Portugal gears up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the so-called Carnation Revolution, the left-wing military coup that toppled the Estado Novo regime originally established by António Salazar, it is worth re-assessing its achievements and its legacy. What were its concrete achievements? What was the impact of the" ongoing revolutionary process "that it set in motion? And what, if anything, are the positive results of that transition to democracy and the dramatic changes it wrought not just in Portugal but across all of its former colonies in Lusophone Africa? This evening's panel will consider these and other contentious questions surrounding the end of the Estado Novo with the aim of opening up an important discussion around topics often ignored by the mainstream.

Confirmed speakers: 

-Jaime Nogueira Pinto is a writer, political scientist, and university professor. He contributes regularly to the Portuguese press and radio and is the author of two dozen books on history and political science, as well as several works of fiction. He is president of the Luso-African Foundation for Culture, an NGO which focuses on the civic formation of political and military cadres in Lusophone African countries. He serves on theboard of curators of the Foundation Gaudium Magnum and Batalha de Aljubarrota,and is a member of the Institut d’Études Politiques and Le Cercle. He is also a correspondent of the Real Academia de Ciencias Morales y Políticas de Madrid. He was formerly the editor of Futuro Presente, a quarterly review founded in 1980. In 2022, along with historian Rui Ramos, he founded the quarterly Crítica XXI. He serves on the academic advisory board of The European Conservative.

-Thomas Gallagher — Thomas Gallagher is an emeritus professor of politics at the University of Bradford. His most recent book is Salazar: The Dictator Who Refused to Die (Hurst Publishers, 2022). His book, Europe's Leadership Famine (1950-2022): Portraits of Defiance and Decay, was published in July 2023 and is available on Amazon.

-John O'Sullivan — John O'Sullivan is president and founder of the Danube Institute in Budapest, international editor of Quadrant magazine in Sydney, Australia; associate editor of the Hungarian Review; a fellow of the National Review Institute and editor at large of NationalReview. He is a co-founder and director of Twenty-First Century Initiatives as well as the International Reagan-Thatcher Society. He served as a special adviser and speechwriter to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He was the founder and co-chairman of the New Atlantic Initiative,  launched at the Congress of Prague in May 1996 by President Vaclav Havel and Lady Thatcher. He serves on the advisory council of The European Conservative.

MODERATOR: Alvino-Mario Fantini is the Editor-in-Chief of The European Conservative and managing director of the Centre Européen de Documentation et d'Information(CEDI) in Vienna.

Language: English

Date: Tuesday, April 30, 2024, 5 PM
Venue: Lónyay-Hatvany Villa - 1. Csónak str., 1015 Budapest
(Entrance: Aranybástya Restaurant)

We reserve the right to make any changes related to event organization. Participation in the event is free, but registration is required, which can be done by email at events@danubeinstitute.hu or by clicking on the R.S.V.P. button: