Brazilian Foreign Policy in Changing Times : The Quest for Autonomy from Sarney to Lula

Brazilian Foreign Policy in Changing Times contributes both empirically and theoretically to the study of international relations. The book illuminates Brazilian foreign policy in the democratic era, a subject scarcely touched on elsewhere. This book also offers a new conceptualization of the debate on the path to an autonomous foreign policy.

This book analyzes Brazilian foreign policy after the democratic opening of the country in the mid-1980s. To illuminate this topic, authors Tullo Vigevani and Gabriel Cepaluni built an analytical framework which uses three concepts to examine Brazilian Foreign Policy changes over the years: (1) autonomy through distance, (2) autonomy through participation, and (3) autonomy through diversification. The authors demonstrate that the Brazilian military regime sought to distance itself from powerful countries in order to keep its domestic sovereignty, while the Brazilian democratic regimes—especially the Cardoso administration—tried to increase international connections despite practicing a foreign policy defending the nation''s autonomy in relation to the great powers. With the Lula administration, the country still seeks greater international relationships but through a diversification strategy concerning its partners abroad, therefore counterbalancing the influence of the great powers, especially the United States.