Deterrent cooperation in South America: the South American Defense Council and the construction of a regional defense identity

• Grant number: 15/13291-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: February 01, 2016
• End date: June 10, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - International Politics
• Principal Investigator: Samuel Alves Soares
• Grantee: Marina Gisela Vitelli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Marília. Marília , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project focuses on the study of UNASUR's South American Security Council (CDS), as a contribution to the analysis on what is specific about the CDS in terms of a regional defense cooperation institution. Having evaluated that this issue has been insufficiently addressed, this post- doctoral research lays the question about to what extent and by which practices the CDS operates as a strategic regional identity construction experience. In addition, it is of research interest to know what were the discussed, negotiated and agreed upon understandings among the member countries on each of the analytic dimensions of that identity: the strategic environment, the regional interests, the threats and risks and the proposed instruments for countering the latter, with a particular focus on Brazilian influence on those ideas. The theoretical framework of this research consists of the communitarist version of constructivism, specially the communities of practice concept. This perspective on processes of regional governance highlights the relevance of the construction of shared meanings which occurs inside transnational communities formed by government officials and experts. In terms of information gathering and analysis, different CDS official documents and specific bibliography will be examined and interviews with key participants will be conducted. Effective contributions are expected to be made in connection with the programmed activities of an interinstitutional project led by the San Tiago Dantas Graduate Program: the "Edital 031/2013 Pró-Defesa".

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

VITELLI, MARINA GISELA. The South American Defense Council: the Building of a Community of Practice for Regional Defense. REVISTA BRASILEIRA DE POLITICA INTERNACIONAL, v. 60, n. 2, 2017. (15/13291-9)

MARINA GISELA VITELLI. A Impossibilidade de uma Política de Defesa nas Américas? Comparando os Conceitos de Segurança Hemisférica e Sul-Americana e os Papéis Militares. Contexto int., v. 42, n. 1, p. 81-102, 2020-07-17. (15/13291-9)