For good or evil: the depoliticization of Brazilian foreign policy and the politicization of traditions

Abstract

The article seeks to understand the political role of diplomatic traditions in the context of Brazilian foreign policy. Working with the hypothesis that the Brazilian diplomatic tradition is used throughout history in two distinct ways, varying according to the interests of groups. Firstly, when appropriated by those who make up the government, tradition serves as a resource for depoliticization of Brazilian foreign policy, serving as justification for policy choices. However, opposition groups resort to tradition and to the questioning of the performance of policies to politicize international choices of government serving as, in this sense, politicizing the tradition of political contestation mechanism. In conclusion, the observation supports the compreension that those who sought to interfere in the political debate through the use of traditions, made it ​​according to their political purposes.