Política e estratégia de defesa nacional: uma reflexão sobre a Política Marítima Nacional

Abstract

The National Maritime Policy (NMP), approved by Decree n o 1,265 of 11 th October 1994, is concerned with managing national activities in the maritime sector, seeking to apply the national seapower, to the benefit of Brazil's interests. The aim of this monograph is to analyze the highest level of national defense-based instruments in the light of National Defense Policy and Strategy, in order to identify in what extent a possible update of the NMP will be conditioned by these documents. At a later stage, through a comparative investigation, the main points in the defense documents relating to maritime policy issues are sought to be verified. The study addresses the importance of the use of the sea, geopolitical issues of maritime spaces, national power, seapower and its maritime components and policies and strategies, so that it will be possible to trace a relationship between the current NMP and the documents of highest level on defense. The methodology used initially comprised a documentary investigation supported by legislation, sectoral plans and internal publications in order to identify documents that are related to NMP in force. The conclusion of the study indicates that some of the constraints of the defense sector should be taken into consideration in a future revision of the NMP, thus allowing its updating and a critical view of the importance of the sea to Brazil. Additionally, the implementation of such measures will lead to the development of the potential of the Brazilian Seapower, leveraging the national power as a whole, resulting in better conditions to meet the national objectives established in our national policies.