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Regional powers / Comment

Brazil in South America: from indifference to hegemony

12/05/2008 By Augusto Varas

Gianluigi Guercia / AFP / Getty Images

Brazil’s proposal to create a South American Security Council is seen as part of a multidimensional, global policy which aims to achieve a position of preponderance in the world and supremacy in the Latin American region, rather than as a process of integration similar to that of Europe.

With this proposal, Brazil presents itself as an emerging power in a less-polarised world, taking one more step in its project to become a hegemonic power in South America, in contention with the United States in the region.

It is believed that the structures for the adequate management of regional peace exist and that they should be strengthened, and not weakened, by the new initiatives which have proliferated in recent years.

Augusto Varas argues that in order to contain and avoid the implementation of mistaken and damaging US policies in the region, it will be necessary to take action in multilateral fora, such as the OAS, which has an important role to play. This is especially significant given that the United States has always put federal operations in the region under military command.

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Keywords

Brazil Latin America & Caribbean Regional powers Security

Related publications

• A South American NATO? Brazil and the chances for a South American Defence Council
• Brazil in the Americas: a regional peace broker?

Bio author: Augusto Varas

Augusto Varas Fernández is an Associate Researcher with la Fundación para las Relaciones Internacionales y Diálogo Exterior (FRIDE). He holds a Degree in Sociology from Universidad Católica de Chile and a Masters and Doctorate in Sociology from Washington University (St Louis), in the United States.