During this same period Marcelo Caetano published what could be considered one of his major studies – besides those commonly highlighted on medieval institutions – suggestively entitled Portugal e a Internacionalização dos Problemas Africanos (Portugal and the Internationalisation of African Problems, 1963). Covering a broad chronological range, Marcelo Caetano addresses Portugal's relationship with major international issues relating to overseas territories, from the "controversy of the freedom of the seas', with Serafim de Freitas, until the end of World War II and the creation of the United Nations (UN). The subtitle added to the fourth edition (1971): “História de uma batalha: da liberdade dos mares às Nações Unidas” (History of a Battle: from the Freedom of the Seas to the United Nations) reveals the circumstances in which it was published.

From 1968 to 1974 Marcelo Caetano served as President of the Council of Ministers, succeeding António Oliveira Salazar. Although Marcelo Caetano's presidency was initially understood as a time of possibilities for gradual reform within the regime itself, with the affirmation of Liberal Wing and reforms in some institutions, these reforms were commonly seen as 'cosmetic', and in reality, the changes were very limited. His vision surrounding the colonies is indicative of this (though written in the 1950s, one can see Caetano's thoughts on race, and on a certain "generation", in Os Nativos na economia africana, 1954, p. 16). Marcelo Caetano tried to create a new policy platform for the Estado Novo regime called Social State, rooted primarily in his idea of corporatism (Estado Social, 1970), and took some steps in that direction. Following the events of 25 April 1974 and the end of the Estado Novo, Marcelo Caetano was sent to Madeira, later exiling himself in Brazil on 25th of May. The final years of his life and his output in the field of historiography deserve particular attention.

Until his death in 1980, Caetano produced a significant body of work. Essential for understanding this final period of his life is the collection of letters he exchanged with Maria Helena Prieto and Joaquim Verissimo Serrão (a friend who always kept Caetano's image alive).

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