Brazil's Armed Forces Grand Strategy dilemmas in the 1980s and 1990s: the internal debate in face of an international system in transition

Abstract

This paper aims to describe the main dilemmas of the Brazilian Armed Forces Grand Strategy in the 1980s and 1990s. In the 1980s, the Malvinas/Falklands War, the reordering of Brazilian foreign policy, and the redemocratization process lead to a review on the Cold War’s Strategy and Military Doctrine. In the 1990s, the new international context strengthened a debate over the Armed Forces purposes, with opinions varying between deterrence, fighting international illicit acts, protecting the environment and acting in UN Peacekeeping Operations. The internal discussion was analyzed based on the articles published by militaries in professional journals like "A Defesa Nacional" and "Revista da ESG". This work argues that the consensus and dissent present in the ideational production can be observed in the Brazilian National Defense Policy of 1996.