Peer-Reviewed Articles by Dawisson Belém Lopes
Contemporary Security Policy, 2024
As a post-colonial nation that embraces international law and multilateralism, Brazil was expecte... more As a post-colonial nation that embraces international law and multilateralism, Brazil was expected to side with those who defend the sanctity of Ukraine’s territorial integrity when the country was invaded by Russia. However, as a Global Southern country with tangible geopolitical and economic interests at stake in the war, Brazil turned a blind eye to Russia’s defiant move and downplayed the gravity of its breach of the law. This article aims to explore the contradictions in Brazil’s foreign policy stance towards the RussoUkrainian war. It analyzes the difficult balance between ideals and concrete goals that Brazilian diplomats strive to achieve in the ongoing war. In doing so, it also sheds light on the current administration’s strategies to cope with today’s emerging multipolar order and to avoid falling prey to the
“weaponization of interdependence”. The article concludes reflecting on Brazil’s quest for an actively non-aligned position to address the sovereignty
paradox it faces in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war.
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CEBRI Revista, 2024
No terceiro mandato de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, o presidente inau-gurou nova fase da políti... more No terceiro mandato de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, o presidente inau-gurou nova fase da política externa brasileira. Um projeto foi anunciado, com potencial para influenciar a inserção internacional do Brasil até janeiro de 2027. Este ensaio analítico, dividido em três seções, revisita as promessas de política externa da campanha, examina realizações e impactos preliminares da gestão, e realiza contabilidade política para avaliar se o saldo do primeiro ano foi positivo para governo e país.
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Global Policy, 2024
The text traces Brazil's pacifist stance back to the early 20th century, rooted in a pragmatic ap... more The text traces Brazil's pacifist stance back to the early 20th century, rooted in a pragmatic approach to conserve resources and foster economic growth. It discusses the role of public opinion in shaping Brazil's response to the conflict, highlighting a pro-neutrality tendency within the populace. The article also analyses the continuity of Brazil's stance under two different presidents, emphasising that despite a change in leadership, there has been no structural shift in foreign policy concerning this matter. We then reflect on Brazil's evolving role on the global stage, considering its historical alignment with the West and the changing dynamics driven by factors such as China's rising influence and the BRICS grouping. The continuing conflict in Ukraine is portrayed as an illustrative case, providing insights on the prospective foreign policy conduct of Global South actors.
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Global Studies Quarterly, 2022
Far-right populist leaders often take office promising a revolution in policies. They project the... more Far-right populist leaders often take office promising a revolution in policies. They project themselves as counterpoints to other political competitors and defend radical positions regarding a set of issues. These contents may include nationalistic–chauvinistic measures, antienvironmental attitudes, conservative postures toward human rights, and religious leaning. According to our framework, though, leaders will only be able to pursue sharp foreign policy changes in pluralistic societies if, first, they win internal disputes at policymaking venues. Second, some policies will depend on external support or, at least, the non-imposition of unsurmountable obstacles. An acute foreign policy change may occur if such “battles” are won—home and abroad. Otherwise, a few incremental and superficial shifts are the maximum outcomes these leaders can get. A within-case study on Bolsonaro's Brazil provides useful evidence for our argument.
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Foreign Policy Analysis , 2022
In this article, we provide a framework to analyze the foreign policy overstretch of middle power... more In this article, we provide a framework to analyze the foreign policy overstretch of middle powers, that is, their recent tendency to expand foreign policy goals and ambitions beyond their capabilities. We propose that overstretch results from the interaction of permissive international environments and the collusion of domestic actors to produce foreign policy myths. These myths, in turn, justify unsustainable swelling of foreign policy expenditures until they are shattered. After laying out our theory, we test it against the case of twenty-first-century Brazil. First, we document how interest groups logrolled to foster and capitalize on a “myth of multipolarity,” which, once entrenched in elite discourse and public opinion, resulted in a tangible overgrowth of foreign policy. Second, we show the extent of overstretch across four indicators—number of embassies, participation in peacekeeping operations, membership in international organizations, and aid projects overseas—using the synthetic control method to compare Brazil with a plausible counterfactual.
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Latin American Politics and Society, 2022
This article introduces the concept of international clientelism and discusses how this diplomati... more This article introduces the concept of international clientelism and discusses how this diplomatic tool was employed by Venezuela under Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro as a means to get political support from several Latin American and Caribbean countries. We operationalize the concept and apply it to assess Venezuelan practices put forth in the region. We argue that the reach of Caracas's diplomatic strategy is broader and deeper than that of simple vote-buying tactics, as it implies the promotion of structural rather than contingent ties, shielding the country against unfavorable moves in international fora. An empirical test using data for all LAC countries for the years 1999-2015 confirms that clientelistic linkages produced political support for Venezuela at the United Nations General Assembly while also moving its partners away from the United States in that institution.
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Dados, 2023
O artigo investiga o papel desempenhado pelo Senado Federal no campo da Política Externa Brasilei... more O artigo investiga o papel desempenhado pelo Senado Federal no campo da Política Externa Brasileira, debatendo a tese da suposta “abdicação”. Informados pela literatura sobre as “microdinâmicas” na relação Executivo-Legislativo, assim como pela “prática de consulta ou antecipação de preferências”, observamos o processo de confirmação das nomeações políticas de embaixadores em toda a Nova República. Em termos metodológicos, tomamos duas direções: i) quantitativa, analisando todas as confirmações no intervalo de 1988 a 2019; e ii) qualitativa, por meio de dois estudos de caso: o rechaço de Guilherme Patriota (OEA, 2015) e a “não indicação” de Eduardo Bolsonaro (Washington, 2019), para sinalizar uma possível agenda de pesquisa nesta área. Os resultados obtidos sugerem as várias formas em que as diferenças políticas entre o Senado e o presidente da República podem ser, e efetivamente, são expressas.
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Contexto Internacional, 2021
In this article, we assess the methodological approaches employed in articles published in Brazil... more In this article, we assess the methodological approaches employed in articles published in Brazilian and global mainstream IR journals in order to observe the differences between the two. To this end, we compare the methodological tools applied in research articles published in the top two Brazilian journals (Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional and Contexto Internacional) vis-à-vis two other top international influential mainstream publications (International Organization and World Politics), from the year 2009 to 2019. By undertaking a Systematic Literature Review, we surveyed a total of 955 articles. Our research concluded that Brazilian IR scholarship differs from the mainstream literature because (1) most articles do not mention the mobilized methods during their analyses, (2) the field of IR presents more non- and post-positivist approaches, and (3) contrary to the mainstream outlets, quantitative methods are rarely employed in Brazil.
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Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Relations, 2022
The Brazilian field of international relations (IRs) has evolved over the course of two centuries... more The Brazilian field of international relations (IRs) has evolved over the course of two centuries. Since Brazilʼs independence in 1822, international topics have deserved attention from local practitioners and scholars. The emergence of Brazilian standpoints about international a airs and of a Brazilian IR scholarship developed a er the consolidation of similar fields in other Western countries. Multiple schools of thought held sway over local understandings, thereby leading to the formation of a di erent field as compared to characteristics of the Anglo-American mainstream. The institutionalization of the area has come about through the creation of scholarly departments and national government agencies. It all led to a unique combination of methods, theories, and issues being currently explored in the Brazilian branch of IR scholarship.
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Global Affairs, 2020
For some time, foreign policy as an expression was perfectly interchangeable with diplomacy, give... more For some time, foreign policy as an expression was perfectly interchangeable with diplomacy, given the degree of leverage enjoyed by diplomatic corps in Brazil's political system. However, there has arguably been some degree of discontinuity in this trajectory, which is noticeable from a couple of trends: Brazil's strategy toward Western powers vis-à-vis the rise of Asia,on the one hand, and democratization of foreign policymaking and the resulting tumultuous relationship between the foreign ministry and the presidency of the country, on the other. I posit that, from Fernando Henrique Cardoso to Jair Bolsonaro, this combination of factors prompted an epochal shift in Brazil's external relations, whose bottom line might be Itamaraty's demise as chief formulator while other governmental bureaucracies, political parties and individuals take over as the gravity centre, turning the contents of Brazil's foreign policy more responsive to social inputs, however less predictable and coherent over time.
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RBPI, 2019
This paper focuses on secretaries-general, given their relative centrality in international polit... more This paper focuses on secretaries-general, given their relative centrality in international politics, as they embody the power to explore institutional and personal agendas, and enjoy the chance to seek prestige for a country or region. Through descriptive statistics, this article analyzes the distribution of secretaries-general per country, reaching some noteworthy findings, especially regarding sharp changes in recent years.
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Journal of Civil Society, 2018
The article questions if the participation of civil society actors in foreign policy making would... more The article questions if the participation of civil society actors in foreign policy making would lead to the democratization of foreign policy processes. The analysis is based on the comparison of three foreign policy participatory initiatives – the Civil Society Consultative Council, the Social and Participative Mercosur Programme and the Dialogue and Consultation System – which currently take place in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, respectively. The hypothesis to be tested is that participatory institutions modify representation in foreign policy by breaking with the monopoly of the diplomatic bureaucracy in foreign policy making on regional integration. For that, we develop a comprehensive model based on social participation indicators and assess the specifics of each participatory initiative by mobilizing documental sources and conducting face-to-face interviews with key actors for each initiative. We ultimately find that the democratic nature is rather correlated with the institutional design adopted by the participatory initiative under scrutiny.
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Global Summitry
The article discusses the hypothesis of there being a " diplomacy of prestige " in Latin America,... more The article discusses the hypothesis of there being a " diplomacy of prestige " in Latin America, i.e., if states from the region have consistently used formal leadership positions at international organizations as a means to pursue national interests. A second hypothesis pos-its that Latin American secretaries-general (SGs) are rather a collateral effect of transnational cosmopolitanism than a deliberate prestige-seeking strategy. This research comprises two stages: an assessment on data about eighty-six Latin American SGs from 1948 to 2015, condensing their personal and professional trajectories, and a prosopographical approach to ten case studies as way of observing their relationship with the respective countries of origin.
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In this article we propose an alternative theoretical path to study contemporary Latin American f... more In this article we propose an alternative theoretical path to study contemporary Latin American foreign policies, evoking the notion of 'public policy cycle' to explain how democratic regimes in the region have been able to expand their autonomy over time. For that, we will first identify the sources of a given country's foreign policy, both at home and abroad, as well as its decision-making and implementation mechanisms. With regard to methodology, by replacing sheer deductivism for some inductivism, this approach also innovates in allowing more rigorous comparative politics and, consequently, new general theories about Latin American politics and policies.
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In order to introduce this special issue of Contexto Internacional, we first seek to provide a pa... more In order to introduce this special issue of Contexto Internacional, we first seek to provide a panoramic understanding of the Latin American political landscape. Next, we consider the new (and not so new) development strategies adopted by Latin American states, and their implications for foreign policy and international relations. Following this, we offer a brief review of the literature on Latin American foreign policy analysis and some of the theoretical and methodological challenges facing the study of Latin American international relations, thus providing a context for a deeper understanding of the contributions to this special issue. Put differently, our objective is to provide readers with a general idea of the reasons why foreign policy has met, should have met, or has been expected to meet social demands in contemporary Latin America.
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Bulletin of Latin American Research (BLAR), Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 468–482, 2013
"This article aims to provide answers to two questions prompted by the latest reforms of Brazilia... more "This article aims to provide answers to two questions prompted by the latest reforms of Brazilian foreign service during Lula da Silva’s presidency: How exactly might these institutional changes generate any impact over the Brazilian diplomatic corporation cohesion at large? How could bureaucratic insulation be undermined as an unexpected outcome of this process? To accomplish their objectives, the authors will briefly review the process of institution-building in Brazil, with an emphasis on the diplomatic corporation and the transformations it has undergone
over the last three decades."
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Revista Estudos Políticos , 2013
This article hopes to elucidate some specific features of twenty -first century South American po... more This article hopes to elucidate some specific features of twenty -first century South American political Bolivarianism by underlining the historical and institutional conditions that made the emergence of a Bolivarian conception of political economy possible, a concept supposedly put in practice by the Venezuelan (Chávez), Bolivian (Morales), and Ecuadorian (Correa) governments. Current socioeconomic and macroeconomic data on Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela (from 1999 to 2008, approx.) is scrutinized, in order to elaborate, by inductive means, a more accurate evaluation of the overall performance of Bolivarian governments.
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Brasiliana - Journal for Brazilian Studies
Brazil has actively participated in the debate around the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) doctr... more Brazil has actively participated in the debate around the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ (R2P) doctrine. More recently, Brazil has even proposed what it believes to be a new approach—the ‘Responsibility while Protecting’ (RwP) corollary to R2P. By launching its own rendition for R2P, Brazil has attempted to reinforce the role of the UN Security Council in two different ways: First, in restricting the use of force on the grounds of ‘Responsibility to Protect,’ which, according to Brazilian diplomatic reasoning, would hinge upon a multilateral assessment of the situation — a condition expected to considerably diminish the arbitrariness in decision making with respect to the use of force. Second, Brazil aimed to highlight the necessity of reform in the UNSC, since, from a Brazilian viewpoint, the decisions of this organ must be representative in order to discharge new tasks assigned to it. Notwithstanding, Brazil's diplomatic proposal has arguably failed to gain massive support from the countries that compose the UN Security Council political establishment and seems now to be forgotten. This paper aims to provide an account on the Brazilian reaction to “Responsibility to Protect” and its first consequences.
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The following article delves into the Constituent Assembly of 1987-1988 in order to investigate t... more The following article delves into the Constituent Assembly of 1987-1988 in order to investigate the social construction of the constitutional devices regulating the aims and approaches of Brazilian foreign policy. Research has therefore been conducted into literature on groups of interest in order to identify the actors and interests to have informed the development of such devices during the years mentioned, as well as the international restrictions to have affected the actors. By means of isolating and systematically dealing with each of the proposals analyzed, the study harnesses the tools employed in process training in order to identify the actors and interests that sought to influence the constituent process and served to shape the constitutional devices. The results demonstrate the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ role as an important source and agent in the constitutionalization of values and practices in foreign policy, mainly mobilizing groups of interests across various organizational levels, which, in promoting their preferences for limiting and orienting foreign policy, led to an expansion of the international agenda in Brazil.
Key words: Brazil; foreign policy; groups of interest; Federal Constitution
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Peer-Reviewed Articles by Dawisson Belém Lopes
“weaponization of interdependence”. The article concludes reflecting on Brazil’s quest for an actively non-aligned position to address the sovereignty
paradox it faces in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war.
over the last three decades."
Key words: Brazil; foreign policy; groups of interest; Federal Constitution
“weaponization of interdependence”. The article concludes reflecting on Brazil’s quest for an actively non-aligned position to address the sovereignty
paradox it faces in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war.
over the last three decades."
Key words: Brazil; foreign policy; groups of interest; Federal Constitution
A análise baseia-se em um resgate de perspectiva historiográfica do discurso e da prática de democratização da política exterior a partir de 1985, problematizando, no âmbito da teoria e dos conceitos, a relação entre democracia e política externa. E evoca o "republicanismo aristocrático" para tentar explicar a relutância à abertura do processo decisório sobre as questões internacionais do país - relutância que se contrapõe ao potencial da política externa para "alterar a consistência do relacionamento entre o Estado e seus cidadãos".
Para o autor, o debate faz sentido especialmente neste momento histórico em que as sociedades democráticas "internalizaram" a política internacional, em consequência da globalização. Agora, diz, essas sociedades precisam "externalizar o doméstico", e sem titubear, sob pena de perderem o passo na "acelerada marcha rumo à integração dos povos".
O livro ainda amealha diferentes pontos de vista sobre a política exterior do país desde o governo José Sarney (1985-1989), reunindo entrevistas com os diplomatas Celso Amorim, Gelson Fonseca, Luiz Felipe Lampreia, Rubens Ricupero e Alexandre Guido Lopes Parola. Sem ser conclusivo, ele mostra que, na democracia, a política externa brasileira tornou-se menos hermética e ganhou mais interlocutores, mas permaneceu conservadora.
Ficha Técnica
Preço: R$ 52
ISBN: 978-85-393-0411-0
Assunto: Política
Idioma: Português
Páginas: 336
Edição: 1ª
Ano: 2013
Formato: 14 x 21 cm
Acabamento: Brochura com orelhas
Sobre o autor: Dawisson Belém Lopes é professor adjunto do Departamento de Ciência Política da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG).
SUMÁRIO
Prefácio: Embaixador Celso L. N. Amorim_XI
Agradecimentos_XVII
Relação de figuras, siglas e abreviações_XIX
Introdução_1
1 A análise da política externa brasileira em evolução_11
2 Os avanços e retrocessos nas propostas de democratização da política externa brasileira entre 1985 e 2010_31
3 Política externa e democracia: conexões in abstracto_83
4 Política externa brasileira e democracia: relacionamento difícil_141
5 Rearranjando fatores: uma hipótese (residual) para entender o Brasil_209
Conclusão – Uma nova estratégia de legitimação para a política externa brasileira?_269
Anexos_293
Referências bibliográficas_313
TEXTO DE APRESENTAÇÃO (ORELHAS)
Já se disse que, nas sociedades pós-industriais, o conflito social teria como eixo a tensão crescente provocada pela coexistência de duas tendências contraditórias: a de busca por igualdade e a de crescente burocratização – esta última caracterizada pela importância cada vez mais central assumida pelo componente técnico do conhecimento.
No Brasil atual, ameaçado de desindustrialização, mais do que passível de ser classificado como uma sociedade pós-industrial, talvez em nenhum outro campo das políticas públicas a cargo do governo federal tal tensão tenha tanta visibilidade, pelo menos nos meios acadêmicos, como na política externa. Nessa seara, os dois principais partidos políticos advogam projetos distintos de inserção internacional para o país. A corporação diplomática, diante da crescente politização da política exterior, por vezes trai a sua aparência monolítica, revelando profundas clivagens intracorporativas. As decisões tomadas no plano internacional produzem impactos redistributivos domésticos de intensidade inaudita e o tema ganha as manchetes da grande mídia.
Inúmeros e diversificados fatores convergiram, no último quarto de século, para reforçar a necessidade de tratamento da política externa brasileira como uma política pública, e não mais como seara exclusiva e monopólio de nossos diplomatas. No plano analítico, tal processo de desencapsulamento da nossa política exterior ganha, neste livro de Dawisson Lopes, o seu tratamento mais sistemático. Esta obra é dedicada ao questionamento da possibilidade de compatibilização entre política externa e democracia e à interpretação deste encontro conflitivo no Brasil da Nova República. Tais objetivos inevitavelmente implicam colocar em discussão a trajetória e as tendências ao insulamento por parte do Itamaraty. Nessa empreitada, o leitor é brindado com uma mescla de erudição e ousadia analítica, em uma tessitura argumentativa original e provocativa, que alia o método histórico ao comparativo, questionando o cânone e ao mesmo tempo retirando dele novas e promissoras chaves interpretativas, como a hipótese do “republicanismo aristocrático mitigado”.
Se a tensão entre expertise e democracia (ou entre eficiência e representatividade) talvez possa ser pensada como constitutiva da produção da política externa em regimes poliárquicos como o brasileiro, esta importante contribuição de Dawisson Lopes está fadada a se tornar referência inescapável no debate acerca das gramáticas políticas das relações exteriores do país.
Carlos Aurélio Pimenta de Faria
Professor do Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências Sociais da PUC Minas.
RECOMENDAÇÕES
“Com lastro empírico e solidez analítica, este livro traça um amplo panorama histórico e teórico do sistema de formulação da política externa brasileira. O autor procura construir uma solução dialética entre os conceitos de democracia e de república em nossa história diplomática. Trata-se de uma contribuição valiosa para um debate ainda incipiente no país.”
Celso Amorim
“Quais os limites e as possibilidades da democratização da política externa brasileira? Para respondê-lo, o autor percorre narrativas próprias da história, da teoria social, da análise institucional, da cultura política e do desenvolvimento da política externa. O viés aristocrático é apontado como um dos principais empecilhos à maior porosidade da diplomacia brasileira aos insumos da sociedade civil.”
Maria Regina Soares de Lima
1) the reprocessing of the demands of social movements that acted in a transnational manner, and which notably took place in the second half of the 1990s;
2) a greater willingness to accept measures involving bilateral and regional cooperation, with Brazil as the driving force;
3) the strengthening “public diplomacy” displayed in Brazil’s foreign policy, particularly under the presidency of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Oferta no 1º semestre de 2023
Código DCP859 (B2)