Estratégia naval Norte-Americana no Atlântico Sul : segurança internacional, geopolítica e tendências

Abstract

This thesis aims to ascertain the very existence of a US naval strategy for the South Atlantic ocean, which has been practiced regularly and consistently even after the end of the Cold War, despite the fact that such strategy has never been officially published. It seeks to demonstrate that the US naval strategy conducted in the South Atlantic attains the long-term objectives of the US global naval strategy, tough is has some peculiarities. Although the U.S. Navy has carried out its naval action guidelines regularly and consistently throughout the years, its action in the South Atlantic ocean has not been regular, evolving into three distinct approaches: a “circumstancial-reactive” during the Cold War; an “inertial-incremental”, between 1990-2007; and the current one “preemptive-securitary”, characterised by the return of great power politics. The research also sought to assess the conditions that made the USA a super naval power, the role of the U.S. Navy in support of the US Grand Strategies, how the US global naval strategy has evolved over the last years and what place has the South Atlantic occupied within it. Regarding the South Atlantic as a geopolitical environment, the analysis focused on the complexities of its current security conjuncture, on its position as a theatre where great powers compete for influence, on its geostrategic peculiarities, and, above all, on it as a space amidst a transition phase, in which low-tension characteristics and signs of a tense insecure future coexist. Thus, some hypothetical scenarios are briefly proposed based on current major trends that could potentially impact the security of the South Atlantic and the US naval strategy in it over the next years.