Does South America matter? Brazilian perceptions of regional integration

Author(s)

Arthur Felipe Murta Rocha Soares

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Relações Internacionais (IRI)
• Defense date: 2020-09-14

Examining board members

Janina Onuki; Denilde Oliveira Holzhacker; Suzeley Kalil Mathias; Amâncio Jorge Silva Nunes de Oliveira

• Advisor: Janina Onuki

Abstract

Growing Brazilian participation in the international arena has gradually awakened a greater interest from public opinion in the debate about the development and implementation of foreign policy in Brazil. The public discussion was strengthened at the beginning of Lula\'s government in 2003, which sought a way to increase its prestige, both at domestic and global levels, through the insertion of Brazil in the international sphere and foreign partnerships. However, since the beginning of Dilma\'s government in 2011, there has been a draining of support due to public opinion regarding Brazil\'s external actions, which have assumed an ever more instrumental character, maintaining a certain rhetoric and the performance of a low regional profile. The construction of South America as a priority area for Brazilian foreign policy during the Lula government gave way to a relative absence, with the following governments searching for other strategic partnerships. In this sense, the research aims to analyse the interaction between national public opinion on foreign policy issues and the formulation of such a policy during both the governments of Lula da Silva (2003-2010) and Dilma Rousseff (2011-2016) at the domestic level as well as in their regional integration. The methodology proposed for this research is based on the survey of the project Las Americas y el Mundo, conducted in seven Latin American countries. The databases from the Brazilian segment of the project (2011, 2015 and 2019) made it possible a comparative analysis of the different perceptions of public opinion about foreign policy issues during Lula\'s and Dilma\'s governments and, in the theme of international migration, also in the Temer\'s government. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 16/18514-9 - The Public Opinion as a determinant in the formulation of Brazilian Foreign Policy: an analysis from the regional role
• Grantee: Arthur Felipe Murta Rocha Soares
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate