• Este é um artigo publicado em acesso aberto e distribuído sob os termos da Licença de Atribuição Creative Commons, que permite uso irrestrito, distribuição e reprodução em qualquer meio, desde que o autor e a fonte originais sejam creditados.
AbstractThis article aims to contribute to the analysis of Brazilian grand strategy and the place of UN peace operations (POs) in the context of this strategy. It deals with the political economy of POs and grapples with the trends of POs in the recent past, especially the increasingly robust mandates of peace operations and their implications. Brazilian participation in peace operations is discussed, focusing on its main characteristics and the consequences of an absence of consensus on the role of POs for the country´s grand strategy. Finally, suggestions are proposed that might create synergies between participation in POs and Brazil´s grand strategy.Keywords: Brazilian foreign policy, brazilian defense policy, grand strategy, peace operations.
Received: November 22, 2016Accepted: April 26, 2017Introduction T he Grand Strategy of a nation is the ultimate proof of its capacity to articulate a plethora of statecraft tools. As such, a more fine-grained look at the grand strategy of an aspirational power like Brazil could contribute to the literature on the conditions underlying a country's transition (or failure thereof ) from middle to great power status (Mares and Trinkunas 2016). In the same vein, it could be useful to studies focusing on a deeper understanding of civil-military relations in newer democracies by means of the incorporation of three essential dimensions: civilian control of the military, effectiveness, and efficiency (Bruneau and Matei 2008). Hence, it may also favor a deeper insight into the comparative development of security institutions (Croissant and Kuehn 2015).In this context, the author intends to address the following question: how does the participation in UN peace operations (POs) is inserted in Brazil´s grand strategy? As a policy-oriented study with theoretical awareness, the article will propose an operational
João Paulo S. Alsina JúniorMinistério das Relações Exteriores, Brasília -DF, Brazil, (joao.alsina@itamaraty.gov.br).Grand Strategy and Peace Operations: the Brazilian Case Rev. Bras. Polít. Int., 60(2): e004, 2017Alsina Junior 2 concept of grand strategy and suggest a general measure to gauge its successful implementation. Grand strategy relates to the use of economic, political, and military means to achieve material and symbolic goals considered essential for a specific political community (Murray and Grimsley 1996;Rosecrance and Stein 1993;Trubowitz 2011). It involves the articulation of a vast array of public policies with a view to attaining those goals in the face of international constraints and opportunities.As a broad concept fraught with the difficulties arising from the vagaries of domestic and international politics, grand strategy should be understood more as a necessary desideratum than as a precise yardstick. As such, ...