This sociability was administratively and ideologically linked to the Estado Novo and led him to write several works on Portugal's indissoluble bond with the colonies, which he fervently believed in. However, even in the books in which he defends the empire, he is aware that he is a partisan: he pointed out in the preface to his Sociologia política da expansão e outros ensaios [Political Sociology of Expansion and Other Essays], published in 1957: "Of course, the following pages reflect a purely personal point of view" (p. 7), but he considered "the current colonial phenomena demand of us Portuguese the obligation to defend, with truth and courage, the clearly healthy attitudes that Portugal has maintained, and maintains, in the Overseas Territories" ( ibidem p. 7 and 8). Faced with all the changes of later Portuguese history in the context of decolonisation, Alexandre Lobato decided to assume a defence of Portugal. For him, the history of Portugal's colonisation was that of a Portuguese people that did not arrive as conquerors "unless there was a previous offence justifying the use of force, but with the cordiality required to establish friendly relations" ( ibid, p. 14). As a result, the Portuguese "instilled in the black soul respect for certain European-style principles regarding individual freedoms, evangelisation rights, and faith in the fulfilment of contracts" ( ibidem, p. 15). In various works, Alexandre Lobato developed a completely idealised image of the Portuguese. It was the other European peoples that had brought back the colonisation that had disappeared with the end of the Roman Empire, whereas the Portuguese were peaceful, integrated well, and only wanted to spread the Christian faith. In this, he was in tune with the lusotropicalist thesis of the Brazilian anthropologist Gilberto Freyre, who at the time visited the Portuguese colonial territories at the invitation of the regime. Following this logic, Alexandre Lobato did not believe that Portugal could exist without the colonies: "The creation of this small people that was generous, humble, stoic, and great: the Overseas Territories, from the Azores to Timor, is the guarantee that Portugal lives on" ( ibidem, p. 23). The defence of the empire was then vital for Portugal.

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