José de Azeredo Lopes is a Professor at the Faculty of Law of the Portuguese Catholic University, where he completed his Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees. He is widely known for serving as Portugal’s Minister of National Defence from 2015 to 2018. He holds a diploma from the Institut Européen des Hautes Études Internationales and is an Auditor of the Hague Academy of International Law.
In academia, he is also a Visiting Professor at Blanquerna Comunicació, Universitat Ramon Llull, in Barcelona. He served as Director of the Porto School of Law at the Portuguese Catholic University (2005–2006) and of the Office of International Studies at the same university (1993–2004).
He was a member of the Working Group on Public Television, appointed by the XV Constitutional Government (2002). In 1999, he acted as rapporteur for the Judicial Sector of the World Bank Mission in East Timor (Joint Assessment Mission for East Timor) and as coordinator and member of an international observer mission during the East Timor popular consultation.From 2006 to 2011, he served as President of the Media Regulatory Authority. He has taught short courses and delivered lectures at several national and international universities and institutions. In 2014, he acted as an expert on media freedom for the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media in Vienna. He has also lectured at the National Defence Institute and, previously, at the Higher Naval War Institute, covering topics related to armed conflicts and geopolitics.
His main research areas include the right of peoples to self-determination, the use of force in international relations, human rights, and armed conflicts. He has contributed as a columnist for Jornal de Notícias (JN) and as a commentator on RTP2 for international affairs.