Revista Conjuntura Austral

4-18

Authors: Marina Bolfarine Caixeta

In the purpose of contributing to the discussions and objectives of the South-South cooperation for international development, this article defends the adoption of new theoretical references for the analysis; this meets the intellectual initiatives that fight for knowledge production in the global South to be autonomous and appropriated to these realities.

36-47

Authors: Fabio Luis Barbosa dos Santos

The purpose of this article is to analyse the recent political tension on the border between Colombia and Venezuela, highlightening Union of South American Nation ́s (UNASUR) role in that context. To achieve this goal, the article undertakes the following movement. At first, I analyse the structrural dimension of the tension between both countries, which is referred to the consolidation of governments that practice politics of opposed orientation. Then, I focus conjunctural aspects, analysing how the crisis was dealt by these countries, and the different roles identified with UNASUL in that context. I wrap the text with observations related to the role of this organization concerning the challenges to regional integration in the present.

62-76

Authors: Laura de Castro Quaglia

This paper discusses the institutional and cultural challenges that that hinder the development of a national security policy convergent with the foreign policy in Brazil. The research question is: how institutions and political culture in Brazil impede or hamper coordination between foreign policy and defense policy - and therefore national security? In the institutional dimension, we consider the hypothesis that the main challenges are: i) the current stage of democratic institutions in Brazil and ii) the institutional gap between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Ministry of Defense (MD). In turn, in the cultural sphere the main challenge stems from the strong shared perception by both the government and the population that Brazil has no external enemies, which results in a certain neglect of the design and implementation of a sound policy of national security. The methodology used is the process-tracing of the historical development of MFA and MD, as well as documentary analysis and quantitative data on perception of the population provided by the World Value Survey 2014.

80-81

Authors: Sílvia Regina Ferabolli

Review of the book "The Power and the People: Paths of Resistance in the Middle East", by Charles Tripp. Cambridge University Press. 2013.