Mistaking Brazil for a Middle Power

Bibliographic Data

ID5710751
AuthorsSean Burge (0000-0002-7612-5091, Australian National University, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume19
Issue2
Pages286-302
Publication date2013-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Iberian and Latin American Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1326-0219 • E-ISSN: 2151-9668
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13260219.2013.853358
OpenAlexW2067424799
LanguageEN
Citations received12

This paper argues that Brazil can only be classified as a middle power by engaging in what Sartori criticized as the process of conceptual stretching. Moreover, it is argued that Brazil neither sees itself as a middle power, nor conducts itself as one despite superficial appearances. After the context is set with a survey of thinking on middle power theory, attention is turned to explaining how Brazil might be mistaken for a middle power before explaining in more detail why the country is not one. Evidence is drawn from Brazil's multilateral engagement in institutions such as the WTO, the inter-American system, the NPT, and the wider context of global development. Ultimately the paper advises policy-makers and academics against using the concept of middle power as a conceptual guide or shortcut to understanding Brazil

Diplomacy · Geography · Middle power · Physics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · History · International Development and Aid · Law

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