A systemic approach to Brazilian foreign policy

Abstract: This paper offers an overview of the Brazilian foreign policy during the first decade of the present century, devoting special attention to president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s years (2003-2010). It is based on an understanding of the Brazilian foreign policy as a policy founded on tradition with important traces of continuity and sees the inflections that still exist as a result from different governmental choices. A systemic approach is proposed, which leads to the understanding that the change in the Brazilian foreign policy is a result of two factors: the ideational and the pragmatic one. Both control political decisions that lead to conflicting directions. The result of such conflicting pressure is a series of foreign policy positions scattered over time. This analytical model is visually represented by a pendulum sketch, whose movement between two extreme positions represents many political possibilities.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mallmann,Maria Izabel
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul 2015
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-60892015000300015
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Summary:Abstract: This paper offers an overview of the Brazilian foreign policy during the first decade of the present century, devoting special attention to president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s years (2003-2010). It is based on an understanding of the Brazilian foreign policy as a policy founded on tradition with important traces of continuity and sees the inflections that still exist as a result from different governmental choices. A systemic approach is proposed, which leads to the understanding that the change in the Brazilian foreign policy is a result of two factors: the ideational and the pragmatic one. Both control political decisions that lead to conflicting directions. The result of such conflicting pressure is a series of foreign policy positions scattered over time. This analytical model is visually represented by a pendulum sketch, whose movement between two extreme positions represents many political possibilities.