Ideology, bureaucracy and foreign policy: the Itamaraty and the Armed Forces during the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985)

• Grant number: 17/18513-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: December 01, 2018
• End date: March 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - History - History of Brazil
• Principal Investigator: Felipe Pereira Loureiro
• Grantee: Alessandra Beber Castilho
• Host Institution: Instituto de Relações Internacionais (IRI). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 19/15281-1 - Authoritarian Diplomacy: the participation of Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the authoritarian project of the Military Regime (1964 - 1985), BE.EP.DR

Abstract

This project intends to analyze the relationship between the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Armed Forces during the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985). It is based on the premise, to be verified empirically, that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Itamaraty) maintained relative autonomy during the period of the military dictatorship in comparison to other civilian ministries. Although there is a consensus in the literature regarding this aspect, few studies seek to explain the reasons for this autonomy. This project has as hypothesis the idea that both the Itamaraty and the Armed Forces would have similar systems of formation of cadres and institutionalization of a spirit de corps, making both institutions to see themselves as the legitimate formators of members of the Brazilian state elite. Such a model of socialization would have allowed, if not an ideological approach of its members, a low military interference within the Itamaraty in comparison to other ministries, in addition to the active participation of Brazilian diplomacy within the information community of the military dictatorship. Through the crossing of a vast set of primary sources, including official and confidential official documents, both from the Itamaraty and the Armed Forces, as well as public documents of the US government, interviews with relevant actors and consultation with commercial newspapers, This project intends to contribute to fill an important gap in the literature on civil-military relations of the period 1964-1985, which may shed light on crucial aspects of the formulation and implementation of Brazilian foreign policy during the dictatorship. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

CASTILHO, Alessandra Beber. Brazilian diplomacy and the legitimization of the Brazilian military dictatorship in the international arena (1964-1974). 2022. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Relações Internacionais (IRI) São Paulo.