Evolution of Brazil’s Strategic Behavior Towards Smaller MERCOSUR Countries in the XXI Century

Abstract

In foreign policy documents and public statements by senior Brazilian officials, the development of the Southern common market (MERCOSUR) is mentioned as a foreign policy priority, but the dynamics of integrational processes in it are far from being positive due to the economic asymmetry of the countries represented — major players — Brazil and Argentina and smaller economies — Uruguay and Paraguay. The authors of the article considers a foreign policy strategy of large countries in relation to smaller ones in the association as the reason for the diffi culties in eliminating the economic asymmetry in MERCOSUR. The purpose of this article is to analyze Brazil’s strategic behavior towards Uruguay and Paraguay. The article proves that the slowdown in the pace of deepening integration in MERCOSUR is directly proportional to the decrease of the importance of Uruguay and Paraguay in Brazil’s foreign policy strategy. The author of the article focuses on the evolution of Brazil’s strategic behavior towards Uruguay and Paraguay: it underwent a transformation from a policy of pressure in the 1990s to Brazil’s mediation in regional confl icts in the 2000s. In the late 2000s, as President Lula da Silva’s plans to deepen political integration in MERCOSUR showed their ineff ectiveness due to the country’s mounting asymmetries with Uruguay and Paraguay, integration into MERCOSUR gradually began to play a secondary role in Brazil’s foreign policy strategy. During the presidencies of Rousseff and Temer, this trend only intensified, reaching its peak after President Bolsonaro came to power. The fi rst part of the article presents theoretical aspects of Brazil’s strategic behavior in relation to small member countries of the association. The second part of the article will analyze specific examples of changes in Brazil’s foreign policy strategy towards Uruguay and Paraguay. Finally, the conclusion outlines the full evolution of Brazil’s strategy towards the small MERCOSUR countries from the 1990s to 2022, and will also focus on the current situation in the association.