Revista Conjuntura Austral

07-18

Authors: Kátia Sara Henriques Xavier Zeca

On April 1, 2020, the State of Emergency was decreed through Presidential Decree 11/2020, which lasted until September 6, 2020. Through Resolution No. 72/2020, of August 5, the President of the Republic (PR) declared a state of emergency for the entire Moz ambican territory, later ratified by Law No. 9/2020, of 7 August. The present analysis, entitled State capacity and society's demands in the context of covid-19 in the education sector in Mozambique, aims to analyze the State capacity and response of the education sector in the context of the Covid-19 Pandemic. In methodological terms, we resorted to documental and bibliographic analysis around the theme in question. It can be concluded that the Mozambican State has shown an articulating and minimizing capacity to face the challenges imposed by Covid-19. The State's capacity to face the new dynamic proved to be challenging and remains in this process as a key entity to ensure the effectiveness and implementation of all preventive measures. However, what remains open is the financial capacity for these same measures to be comprehensive and inclusive, taking into account the disparities in access to resources and well-being.

35-52

Authors: Ubirajara Garcia Ferreira Tamarindo; Marcos Cordeiro Pires

From the perspective of Sino-Brazilian trade relations, this article aims to analyze the impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on exports of agricultural products between Brazil and China in 2020, when the pandemic began, as well as the possible Chinese changes in their food security strategies and geographic diversification of import of agricultural products, accelerated due to the global health crisis and that will require special attention from the national sector. In this context, this article, conducted by a qualitative approach and bibliographic and documentary review, found that the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus caused enormous degradation of the economic environment and employment levels and, above all, the purchasing power of the Brazilian population. Nevertheless, agribusiness, the country's economic sector that exports the most and generates a trade surplus, was not affected by the global pandemic in 2020 and continues in 2021 with favorable prospects, mainly: a) due to the high Chinese demand for commodities; b) conflicts in Sino-American relations; and c) exchange devaluation, notably of the Brazilian currency against the US dollar and the Euro.

66-74

Authors: Kathleen Kate Dominguez Aguirre

The number of feminicides in Latin America has grown exponentially over the past 30 years, in parallel to the neoliberal politics and agreements made in the countries of the region, for the benefit of the Global North, especially the dominant powers in international politics. In the same period, gender violence and women's rights came centre stage in programs originated or mediated by international organisations, especially the United Nations - The UN, debating and institutionalising for the member countries, trying to alleviate the consequences resulting from the ideologies that these very organisations implemented to the Global South. With this state of affairs, the increasing feminicide in Latin America, despite the humanitarian agendas of international cooperation and the countries of the Global North, has highlighted and problematised, based on theories from the Global South, under a decolonial perspective and regressive-progressive analysis. We conclude that the combination of a reformist approach to feminist agendas and neoliberal policies implicates the exploitation and/or death of Latin American women and perpetuate modern/colonial geopolitical dependence.

92-106

Authors: Sidnoma Nita Belemsobgo

South-South Cooperation (SSC) is an innovative, forthright, and ambitious means to expand collaboration between countries with a similar economic profile. Over the past decade, it straightforwardly imposes within West African states’ practices. Indeed, as time passes, many countries have developed significant technical capacities and know-how that they can share. To formalise such sharing of experiences and best practices and raise it to another and higher level, it was essential to hand over this role to a supranational organisation with more tools and experience to coordinate the exchange. In that effect, In West Africa, states leaned towards the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which gathers 15 member states and which is the main catalyst for promoting exchanges and sharing within the sub-region. The study provides an overview of the South-South partnership promoted by ECOWAS on the economic and social aspects through an exploratory documentary study while providing the levers of development for this partnership. The study's main aim is to assess the importance of SSC for ECOWAS member states sustainable development. The specific objectives are: assess ECOWAS initiatives promoting SSC; provide some cases of success stories of good practices.

123-135

Authors: Mariana Felix Quadros, Maria Eduarda Piacentini, Jocieli - Decol

This article aims to discuss how Marielle Franco’s symbolism can contribute to the theoretical transformation of International Relations (IR). Therefore, we will reflect on the political trajectory of Marielle Franco, a black woman, LGBTQIA+, sociologist, city councilor, and anti-racist feminist activist, associating her figure to the theoretical and political debate on International Relations through the concepts of race and gender. The question that guides this research is: how does the figure of Marielle Franco relate to the theoretical transformation of IR? To answer this, qualitative and exploratory research will be conducted, guided by critical theories of International Relations. Our central argument is that the symbolism of Marielle Franco represents the urgency to pluralize and transform the discipline, connecting theory and politics and decentralizing its state-centered analytical focus to the incorporation of multiple actors and other perspectives that think the international "from below”. In this way, relating Marielle to IR guides us towards a new worldview, in which the agency of historically marginalized and silenced bodies is incorporated into the international reality.

136-176

Authors: Gabriela Santos da Silva, Silvia Regina Ferabolli

This paper employs the term ‘Alawization’ to define the prominence of members of the Alawi community in positions of power across Syria, a process that has already been noticed by some scholars, but that has not been named until now. We intend to answer the following questions: is there a process that can be called Alawization happening in Syria? How could Alawization have become a political process in the country? How could this have evolved over time? And how is it perceived among practitioners of international relations? Essentially, the circumstances that could allow for this process to take place are embedded in Syria’s colonial period and its evolution is closely related to the rise of Hafiz al-Assad to power – launching an “Assad dynasty”, that continues ruling the country. Perception of this ongoing process was based, methodologically, on historical representations and was investigate d through semi-structured interviews with diplomats based at the UN working with Middle Eastern issues and/or that have already been assigned to posts in Syria. It concludes by suggesting that, albeit there’s recognition of this process, there is still disagreement on how it occurs and how widespread it is internally.

11-20

Authors: Ana Flávia Barros Platiau, Leandra Regina Gonçalves, Carina Costa Oliveira

The activities of women are usually underestimated in areas traditionally dominated by men. Thus, the ocean is not different. Ocean has been seen as a male environment, especially in navigation, fisheries and hard sciences. Because the acceleration of the blue economy brings socio ecological risks to humanity, notably to people in the so-called Global South, and particularly to women, we advocate for transformative change. How the UN Decade for Ocean Science may contribute to transform barriers to gender equity in opportunities to promote blue justice? Our main goal is to show that the Ocean Decade may play a role in fostering a more sustainable blue economy, in accordance with the UN 2030 Agenda, because it focuses on “the science we need for the ocean we want”, therefore encouraging participative and interdisciplinary research. Moreover, scientific research offers space for women to harness their preferences and priorities. In this perspective article, we employ an interdisciplinary approach to draw insights over the transformation pathway to blue justice.

35-48

Authors: Jacqueline A. Haffner, Hetalben Haribhai Patel

The present article has as its theme India as a strategic partner of Mozambique. The main objective of the work is to describe and analyze the evolution of bilateral relations between India and Mozambique and to demonstrate how India has become a strategic partner for Mozambique. To this end, the article first describes the beginning of diplomatic relations and their outlines until today. Next, the growth of commercial relations is exposed and, finally, the investments made by India in Mozambique, mainly in the natural gas sector, are presented. The methods of analysis used were the comparative method and the historical method. The main hypothesis is related to India's growing geostrategic interests in energy resources and access to the Indian Ocean, which leads it to strengthen ties with African states and make a strategic alliance with Mozambique. The article brings as main results the evidences of how the deepening of the economic, political and security relations made India a strategic partner for Mozambique.

61-72

Authors: Mariana Pimenta Bueno

In face of the rising debate about museological repatriation and the European museums reluctance at the subject, this research has as a goal the critical analysis throughout Postcolonial Theory, and by document analysis the justification about an alleged patrimonial universalism, proclaimed by the Declaration on the importance and value of universal museums, released in 2002. Questioning this characteristic proposed by signatories’ museums, I wonder: would the conservation of heritage be a Western value? Therefore, the hypothesis worked here is that the document previously mentioned is an invocation for a Western colonial maintenance. Structured by three sections, this article presents concepts that are within the museum, as memoir and heritage, to comprehend how their meanings are intimately linked to Eurocentrism. Furthermore, recommended documents by UNESCO are used to explain how this universalistic heritage and museological norm is valid though these Western spaces, as well as analyzing heritage requests as a challenge for the International System. At last, the aim is not present a final answer for this agenda, but highlight and discuss, within the field of International Relations field, the importance of this debate.

89-105

Authors: Silvia Lilian Ferro

This communication aims to dimension demographic, economic and social consequences of the confluence of the global health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020 with the pre-existing and structural global care crisis; cutting as space for analysis MERCOSUR countries: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Next, a diagnosis is made from a gender perspective on existing public care policies in the region, in view of the work and family changes perceived in the last decades in the West. Finally, inadequacies of origin and historical inadequacies of social policies in force and amplified in the pandemic scenario are measured. The methodology used is mixed, with the use of quantitative and qualitative techniques in the processing of information and interpretation of statistical data, placing them in dialogue with the reference literature on policies and public systems of care. The results show the need to think about the generalization of public care systems as overcoming instances of nineteenth-century social policies originating in the Global North that show signs of cycle exhaustion in societies of the Global South and especially in the analyzed region.

119-136

Authors: Yetzy Urimar Villarroel Peña, Adriana Patricia Castaño Román

The research aims to link global geopolitics, specifically the US strategy towards Latin American countries with emphasis on Venezuela, demonstrating how the structural violence of the international and inter-American system has generated situations of femicidal violence on the body of women of Venezuelan nationality, both inside and outside Venezuela. Explaining the context of generalized crisis that is experienced in the country as an expression of the struggle for power, not only of national but also international actors, and finally, analyzing the implications that this has generated on Venezuelan women, both of those who migrate as of those that remain in the country. We start from the question, how to explain, from a geopolitical and feminist perspective, the feminicidal violence that has fallen, in recent years, on Venezuelan women, inside and outside Venezuela? The qualitative methodology, intersectional and multilevel analysis is used for the theoretical and practical usefulness it brings to the case, as well as the documentary review. From the theoretical point of view, we start from the feminist perspective of International Relations.

154-169

Authors: Isabella Neumann, Graciela de Conti Pagliari

This article aims to achieve an appraisal of the stage in which the incorporation of the military woman in Brazil is found in the second decade of the 2000’s, based on data provided by the three commands of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defense. We start from the understanding that the female sex in the Armed Forces is one of the elements that make up civil-military relations and we analyze, based on the indicators established by Carreiras (2006), the i) percentage of women in the total active force; ii) the distribution of military woman in functions iii) the formal restrictions on combat functions; iv) the formal category restrictions; v) the percentage of women in the category of officers; vi) the segregation in basic training; and vii) the programs for gender mainstreaming. In the end, we concluded that women are not yet satisfactorily integrated into the Armed Forces of Brazil, either in quantitative or qualitative terms, because they do not occupy, in their entirety, the positions and functions of the Armed Forces.

07-18

Authors: Pedro Diniz Rocha

The main goal of this article is to unveil the role of morality in State action on Classical Realism by revisiting the work of Hans J. Morgenthau. It is argued that Morgenthau’s international political theory is built in a mixed-rule deontology framework, in opposition to strong deontology and utilitarianism ideas. For the author, a statesman may bes prompted by the nature of politics to take morally reprehensive actions but nevertheless has moral responsibility in his agency and cannot get rid of the guilty from its choices. Given the impossibility of the greater good in politics and a statesman awareness of this dilemma, a prudent leader has to choose the lesser evil. By revisiting Morgenthau focusing on the moral aspect of Morgenthau writings, this article seeks to contribute for the specialized literature on traditions of international ethics, and for the recent effort of rereading Classical Realism in International Relations Theory

38-49

Authors: Mateus Webber Matos, José Antonio Fogolari

A concept of populism is quite controversial. One strand understands the phenomenon as the adoption of personalist and centralist positions, creating a direct communication channel between leader and people. These regimes permeate the history of Latin American countries, such as Venezuela by Hugo Chávez in 1999. A central question in this work: how would Chávez use his populist domestic project to support an integrating foreign policy in Latin America? The purpose of this article is to understand the extent to which practices such as state control of strategic activities and the creation of regional integration schemes - based on Chávez's personalist populism - to shape the identity of Venezuelan foreign policy. To this end, the qualitative bibliographic methodology was used, including articles from qualified newspapers in Portuguese, English and Spanish. From the theoretical point of view, Constructivism and Foreign Policy Analysis will also be fundamental elements for the achievement of the objectives proposed in each chapter. Preliminarily, the literature points out that Chávez's populism - sustained, notably, by the rise of oil exports and the support shown by the Venezuelan population - made closer ties possible (ideological and political) with neighbors, such as Bolivia, Ecuador and Cuba, giving rise to more autonomous regional development strategies to the detriment of neoliberal premises It is concluded that the Chávez government, however, neither expand its partnerships in the region in an uniform manner, nor managed to eradicate Venezuelan economic disparities.

63-76

Authors: Luis Fernando Corrêa da Silva Machado

This article seeks to understand the reasons of the efforts to promote the narrative of a technological and innovative Brazil abroad. The premise is that countries invest in public diplomacy and marketing initiatives, in order to improve the international insertion of technological products, services or processes, as well as the attraction of foreign investments and qualified workers. The purpose of the research is to highlight the constraints and strengths of Brazilian public diplomacy in order to achieve the goal of developing the country brand related to the technological sector. This is an exploratory research, which resorts to the specialized bibliography and to the assessment of the strategies adopted by five countries (Estonia, India, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), for illustrative purposes, to better understand the problem. It was concluded that, in order to achieve such objective, the work performed by the Chancellery is not enough. All government agencies, at federal, state and municipal levels, and preferably also business and civil society should be involved. This work suggests that SICOM should concentrate the decision-making process and initiatives related to the country-branding of Brazil, including the technology component

92-106

Authors: Anselmo Otavio

In the final years of the Clinton administration (1994-2001) and, most notably, during the War on Terror (GcT), United States of America (USA) and Africa relations were intensified. As it symbolizes a certain counterpoint to the historical distance, at least in international relations, between USA and African countries, this proximity leads us to the following question: did the presence of the United States represent, or not, a break with the marginal condition of the African continent in Washington's interests? Based on this issue, the article proposes to understand the Africa in the foreign policy of the United States between 2001 and 2020, and to defend the hypothesis that there was no such break. Firstly, during the Bush (2001-2009) and Obama (2009-2017) administrations, the predominance of security-oriented initiatives indicated the continuity of the USA in including Africa to its systemic interests, and does not necessarily reflect the changing status of this continent in U.S. foreign policy. Second, because disinterest in Africa was prevalent throughout the Trump administration (2017-2021). In methodological terms, the article will be developed from a bibliographic review, composed of books, articles, academic journals, official documents, reports, among other sources considered relevant to the theme.

7-22

Authors: Alana Camoça Gonçalves de Oliveira

The objective of this article is to analyse the “Asia Pivot” US policy during Barack Obama’s government (2008-2016) through the lenses of Neoclassical Realism. With that in mind, this article analyses the leadership perceptions regarding threats and opportunities in East Asia, as well as domestic pressures that influenced the development, implementation and actions of the policy during the Obama administration. The article also analyses how the Asia Pivot policy affected the East Asian countries’ perception regarding US commitment with the region. From the methodology point of view, the article follows a qualitative approach, based in primary and secondary sources as the base of the research arguments. The article concludes that US budget problems, the rise of new leaderships against US expenditure and security actions in other countries, as well as issues involving the US internal power balance, affected in a negative way the Pivot policy. As the policy developed, doubts regarding US willingness and capacity to act in East Asia affected the perception of countries in the region, fuelling militarization processes and security dilemmas in the Asian theater.

38-50

Authors: Josias Marcos de Resende Silva

Brazil has been attempting, since the beginning of the XXI century, to play a more relevant role in the international scenario. Based on this goal, the country accepted the challenge to be the military leadership in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). In the Caribbean country, Brazilian forces had to deal with a Fourth Generation Warfare (4GW), the most common kind of conflict in place since the end of the Cold War. In order to deal with this 4GW, Brazil adopted the smart power strategy, which combines the use of force and diplomatic efforts. Thus, this paper analyses the application of Brazil’s smart power in MINUSTAH as a decisive factor for the resolution of the Haitian conflict. After bibliographic and documental research, it was possible to verify that Brazil’s smart power was a successful strategy in Haiti, effectively dealing with non-state threats, stabilizing the country, and reducing civilian deaths related to the conflict to a very reduced number.

68-80

Authors: João Paulo Nicolini Gabriel, André Luiz Cançado Motta

This article aims to explain the lack of robust antinuclear movements in India during a period that ranges from the 1950s to the 1970s. Such movements arose throughout the world. During the 1960s, people rallied for this agenda in the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and even in New Zealand. India, conversely, tested a nuclear device in 1974, at the known Pokhran-I test (or “Smiling Buddha”), but did not face such grassroots uprisings. In this sense, this research design applied a deductive congruence analysis built on a bibliographical review. A case study on the Indian context tested previously elaborated the main hypotheses. It was inferred that this phenomenon was caused by four elements: (a) few possibilities to public participation; (b) scant available information on nuclear policy; (c) lack of a political schism between national elites and civil society on this topic; and at last (d) geopolitical dynamics.

7-19

Authors: Luciana Wietchikoski, Eduardo Svartman

Since the electoral campaign, the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro emulates United States’ President Donald Trump's rhetoric and attitudes while proclaims an alignment with Washington. Before this changing scenario, the present article assesses the perceptions that has been framing the new Brazilian government in Washington, especially within the think tanks devoted to international politics. These civil society organizations, whose ideas aim to influence the public opinion and the public policies cycle, play an important role in propagating narratives about Brazil in different USA social fields like the politics, private sector, media, and academia. Employing content analysis methodology, one argues that, despite the new administration bet on the alignment with the United States and the positive words from the Trump administration, the ideational production of the researched think tanks about Bolsonaro and his political agenda is more negative than positive.

36-47

Authors: Álvaro Vicente Costa Silva

This paper analyse the Brazilian motivation to act as a mediator in one of the most difficult moments in Suriname’s history, in 1982: the crisis that succeeded the killing of opponents of Desiré Bouterse’s government, who advocated for a new path for the Surinamese foreign policy, including a convergence of positions with Cuba. The Brazilian intervention, known as “Missão Venturini”, sent in 1983 to Panamaribo, intended to avoid such Surinamese movement towards Cuba, and the potential American intervention that would follow such movement, as the Ronald Reagan government was intensely anti-communist. Our paper is based in declassified documents, disponible at CPDOC/FGV, and use the Prospect Theory in order to achieve our goal. We point to the Brazilian Foreign Policy Executive’s risk-averse orientation. When facing the prospect of a “socialist” Suriname and the losses that an American intervention in South America would cause to Brazil, a cooperation offer seeking to contain Bouterse’s actions and to avoid a Surinamese policy shift to the left seemed a less risky alternative.

62-76

Authors: Jéssica Moreira de Amorim Morais, Julia Bertino Moreira

The international regime for the protection and promotion of Human Rights has been expanding and consolidating within the Framework of the United Nations (UN) from the middle of the 20th century to the present day. After the Cold War, human rights issues became part of the international security agenda, as the competence of the Security Council (CS) - which is responsible for conflict resolution, as is the case in Western Sahara. During the process of expanding the International Security agenda, two distinct principles were coined, but they talk well with each other: human security and the responsibility to protect. Both helped bring Human Rights to the top of the international agenda. This paper focuses on these principles when analyzing the human rights situation in the case of Western Sahara at two specific times: before and after the expansion of the International Security agenda, equivalent to the period during the armed conflict (from 1975 to 1991) and the period after the ceasefire (from 1991 to the present). We will use documentary research and bibliographic review as methodological resources, based on academic articles, books, official UN documents and NGO reports.

94-108

Authors: Natália Diniz Schwether

United Nations Resolution 1325 is the most important international standard regarding the conflict’s impact on the lives of women and girls. It addresses protection against sexual and gender-based violence, promotes female participation in peace processes and expands the role of women in missions. The implementation process in the Member States is carried out through the formulation of National Action Plans (NAPs), which are responsible for establishing strategic actions, identifying priorities, allocating resources, determining responsibilities and execution deadlines. In the South American region, only five plans were produced, twenty years after the first application, by Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Paraguay. Given this, the article focuses on two main questions: how did the production of NAPs in each of these countries take place? And, what are the main differences between them? Therefore, in a first stage, this study presents the evolution of the Women, Peace and Security agenda and its consequences. In a second step, a textual analysis protocol is applied in order to compare the plans implemented by each of the South America countries. Finally, it appears that the areas of resource allocation and monitoring and evaluation strategies require greater diligence.