Maritime States and the Value of the Sea

Abstract

This chapter questions whether Brazil is a maritime country. Some nations are known as maritime and others as continental, without precise conceptualisation. Such conditions, distinguished by internal characteristics and international behaviour, were issues of thinkers and students in geopolitics and history, the classical theorists in sea power and modern authors in naval strategy. Such aspects, however, are impacted by contemporary facts like the accelerated pace of technology, world population growth, and the increasing needs of energy and communications, which are provoking the expansion of maritime activities, enhancing the value of the sea for mankind. Two relevant consequences are economic globalisation and the search for mineral resources in the seabed – mainly of oil and gas – which affect countries’ maritime and naval strategies. This chapter discusses this context and Brazil’s case is studied in the light of these factors by its historic performance until its current status, including a general appreciation of its resulting naval strategic conception in South Atlantic.