Diplomatic Transformation During The Geisel Administration In Brazil (1974-1979)

As a major power among South American countries,Brazil attaches great importance to its foreign strategy,which has an influential impact on its development course.Since the end of Second World War,the policy of “automatic alliance” with the U.S.has become the key note of Brazilian government.However,it started to transform its foreign policy when stepping into the 1970 s,changing from the pro-American diplomacy to a more independent and diversified one.During the Geisel's administration,Brazil began to transcend differences in ideology and social system,carried out diplomatic activities under the banner of “Ecumenical Responsible Pragmatism”.In this period,Brazil has developed and enhanced relations with countries and regions around the world,especially those of “the Third World”.The present dissertation aims to analyze the Geisel administration's motive of transforming Brazil's foreign policy in the 1970 s.The existing studies have addressed this issue through international systemic,domestic and multidimensional approaches,which exist problems such as the insufficient explanation of the diplomatic policy differentiation,the inclusion of excessive variables,and the lack of logical analytical framework.Therefore,based on a comprehensive analysis of the lectures,reports and interviews of Geisel administration,this paper has critically appropriated the Neoclassical Realism theory and presented a comparatively concise theoretical framework to research the foreign strategy transformation,which has integrated three systemic and domestic factors as the analytical variables—the strategic environment,the strategic preference and the common interest between countries.In addition,the author has also explained the difference appeared in Geisel's diplomatic practice through analyzing the Brazil's stance on lifting OAS's embargo on Cuba and the normalization of Brazil-China diplomatic relations.The conclusion could be drawn that the transformation of Brazil's foreign policy during the 1970 s is driven by both systemic and domestic factors.In the aspect of international system,the adjustments of international and regional structure,such as the détente between the U.S.and the USSR,the changes in U.S.-Latin America Relations,as well as the rise of Brazil's relative national strength.In domestic aspect,the intervening variables,including the strategic preferences of Brazilian policy makers,and the definition and readjustment of common interests among countries,have reinforced,transmitted,restricted,and reversed the systemic signals,leading into the differentiation of Geisel's administration in diplomatic practices.