Diplomacia Naval no Atlântico Sul: a contribuição da Marinha do Brasil para a Política Externa Brasileira

Abstract

The end of the Cold War (1989) brought a new way of thinking about the concepts of security and defense. It was necessary to go beyond the current strategic thinking, characterized by bipolarity, making it advisable to develop cooperative policies and strategies. In this new scenario, the right environment was once again created for the use of naval diplomacy, where Naval Power, due to its intrinsic characteristics of mobility, permanence, versatility and flexibility, favored by freedom of navigation and trough logistical support, it can act in support of Brazilian foreign policy in guarantee of State interests. In this paper, in particular, the actions of the Brazilian Navy related to naval diplomacy will be analyzed in the South Atlantic, from which about 95% of the oil and 80% of the natural gas produced in the country are extracted and almost 95% of our international trade is carried by sea. These factors led to the establishment of the South Atlantic as a strategic environment for Brazil since the National Defense Policy of 2005. Thus, considering the character of the integrality of the National Power, it becomes relevant for security, defense and national development, to study the interactions of political (diplomats) and military (navy) expressions in a region so relevant to the country.