“The Use of Force Should Not Be Our First, But Our Last Option”—Assessing Brazil's Norm-Shaping Towards Responsibility to Protect

ABSTRACT

Scholarship on international norms has devoted growing attention to emerging powers, often portrayed as norm-shapers, i.e. actors engaged in the development of international normative standards aiming to adjust their contents and modes of application. Several studies have investigated these countries’ performance regarding a particular norm: Responsibility to Protect (R2P). This article aims to systematically unwrap Brazil's behaviour as a norm-shaper by tracing the guidelines employed by Brazilian diplomacy to shape elements of R2P. This study relies on Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) in order to map the attributes and the normative prescriptions found in statements at the United Nations, identifying the characteristic markers of this behaviour. We conclude that, though sovereignty is a ground principle of its foreign policy, Brazil tends to be moderate when addressing the issue. Nonetheless, the latter is upheld in a systematic albeit indirect manner in the Brazilian statements.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Amitav Acharya, “‘Idea-Shift’: How Ideas from the Rest Are Reshaping Global Order”, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 37, No. 7 (2016), pp. 1156–1170.

2 Pu Xiaoyu, “Socialisation as a Two-Way Process: Emerging Powers and the Diffusion of International Norms”, The Chinese Journal of International Politics, Vol. 5, No. 4 (2012), pp. 341–367. Cristina Stefan, “On Non-Western Norm Shapers: Brazil and the Responsibility While Protecting”, European Journal of International Security, Vol. 2, part 1, (2016), pp. 88–110.

3 Adriana Abdenur, “Emerging Powers as Normative Agents: Brazil and China within the UN Development System”, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 35, No. 10 (2014), pp. 1876–1893.

4 Pu, op. cit. Melinda Negrón-Gonzales and Michael Contarino, “Local Norms Matter: Understanding National Responses to the Responsibility to Protect”, Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations, Vol. 20, No. 2 (2014), pp. 255–276. Kai Michael Kenkel and Cristina Stefan, “Brazil and the Responsibility While Protecting Initiative: Norms and the Timing of Diplomatic Support”, Global Governance, Vol. 22 (2016), pp. 41–58.

5 United Nations, “2005 Summit Outcome Document”, (September 16, 2005), available: https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_RES_60_1.pdf (accessed 4 February 2020).

6 Jennifer Welsh, “Implementing the ‘Responsibility to Protect’: Catalayzing Debate and Building Capacity”, in Alexander Betts and Phil Orchard (eds.), Implementation and World Politics: How International Norms Change Practice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014). Nicole Deitelhoff and Lisbeth Zimmermann, “Things We Lost in the Fire: How Different Types of Contestation Affect the Validity of International Norms”, PRIF Working Paper 18 (2013).

7 Lisbeth Zimmermann. “Same or Different? Norm Diffusion Between Resistance, Compliance, and Localization in Post-Conflict States”, International Studies Perspectives, Vol. 17, No. 1 (2016), pp. 98–115.

8 Philipp Rotmann, Gerrit Kurtz, and Sarah Brockmeier, “Major Powers and the Contested Evolution of a Responsibility to Protect”, Conflict, Security and Development, Vol. 14, No. 4 (2014), p. 356 [355–277].

9 Charles T. Hunt, “Emerging Powers and the Responsibility to Protect: Non-Linear Norm Dynamics in Complex International Society”, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Vol. 29, No. 02 (2016), pp. 01–21.

10 Jochen Prantl and Ryoko Nakano, “Global Norm Diffusion in East Asia: How China and Japan Implement the Responsibility to Protect”, International Relations, Vol. 25, No. 2 (2011), p. 210 [204–223].

11 Military intervention led by the US to address actions against civilians carried out by the Gaddafi government, in 2011, authorized by Resolution 1973 of the UNSC.

12 Thorsten Benner, “Brazil as a Norm Entrepreneur: The ‘Responsibility while Protecting’ Initiative”, Global Public Policy Institute Working Paper (2013), pp. 4–11.

13 Marcos Tourinho, Oliver Stuenkel, and Sarah Brockmeier, “Responsibility while Protecting: Reforming R2P Implementation”, Global Society, Vol. 30, No. 1 (2015), p. 143 [134–150].

14 Stefan, op. cit., p. 108.

15 Though the later center-right (Temer) and rightwing (Bolsonaro) governments could harbor changes regarding R2P, their foreign policies have not embodied any comparable norm-shaping attitude, so that we will not consider them in our analysis.

16 For e.g. see: Aziz Tuffi Saliba, Dawisson Belém Lopes, and Pedro Vieira, “Brazil's Rendition of the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ Doctrine”, Brasiliana, Vol. 3, No. 2 (2015), pp. 32–55. Matias Spektor, “Humanitarian Interventionism Brazilian Style?”, Americas Quarterly Vol. 6, No. 3 (2012), pp. 54–59. Oliver Stuenkel and Marcos Tourinho, “Regulating Intervention: Brazil and the Responsibility to Protect”, Conflict, Security Development, Vol. 14, No. 4 (2014), pp. 379–402.

17 Welsh, op. cit.

18 Mikelli Ribeiro, “R2P and the Pluralist Norm-shapers”, Contexto Internacional (forthcoming).

19 Ibid., p. 2.

20 Andrew Garwood-Gowers, “R2P Ten Years after the World Summit: Explaining Ongoing Contestation over Pillar III”, Global Responsibility to Protect, Vol. 7 (2015), p. 320 [300–324].

21 Pu, op. cit., p. 358.

22 Pu, op. cit.

23 Brian Job and Anastasia Shesterinina. “China as a Global Norm-Shaper: Institutionalization and Implementation of the Responsibility to Protect”, in Alexander Betts and Phil Orchard (eds.), Implementation and World Politics: How International Norms Change Practice (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), p. 152.

24 Stefan, op. cit., p. 95.

25 Pu, op. cit., pp. 357–359.

26 Antje Wiener, “Contested Compliance: Interventions on the Normative Structure of World Politics”, European Journal of International Relations, Vol. 1, No. 02 (2004), pp. 189–234. Antje Wiener and Uwe Puetter, “The Quality of Norms Is What Actors Make of It: Critical Constructivist Research on Norms”, Journal of International Law and International Relations, Vol. 5, No. 5 (2009), pp. 1–16.

27 Courtney Fung, “Rhetorical Adaptation, Normative Resistance and International Order-Making: China's Advancement of the Responsibility to Protect”, Cooperation and Conflict, Vol. 54, No. 2 (2019), pp. 1–26.

28 Brian Job, “Evolution, Retreat or Rejection: Brazil's, India's and China's Normative Stances on R2P”, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Vol. 29, No. 3 (2016), p. 893 [891–910].

29 Stuenkel, and Tourinho, op. cit. Spektor, op. cit.

30 These principles can be found on article 4 of the Brazilian Constitution, subsections IV and VII, respectively.

31 Saliba, Lopes, and Vieira, op. cit.

32 Pu, op. cit., p. 358.

33 Alcides Vaz, “Brazilian Perspectives on the Changing Global Order and Security Challenges”, CEPS Working paper Document, No. 376 (2013), pp. 01–09.

34 João Maia and Mathew Taylor, “The Brazilian Liberal Tradition and the Global Liberal Order”, in Oliver Stuenkel and Mathew M. Taylor (eds.), Brazil on Global Stage: Power, Ideas, and the Liberal International Order (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2015).

35 The “Política Externa Independente”, by San Tiago Dantas, is an example.

36 Marcos Tourinho, “For Liberalism without Hegemony: Brazil and the Rule of Non-Intervention”, in Oliver Stuenkel and Mathew M. Taylor (eds.), Brazil on Global Stage: Power, Ideas, and the Liberal International Order (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2015).

37 Luiz Cervo and Antonio Carlos Lessa, “O declínio: inserção internacional do Brasil (2011–2014)”, Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional, Vol. 57, No. 2 (2014), pp. 133–151.

38 Dawisson Belém Lopes and Mario Schettino Valente, “Construção Social dos Princípios Conformadores e das Normas Programáticas de Política Externa Brasileira”, DADOS – Revista de Ciências Sociais, Vol. 59, No. 4 (2016), pp. 995–1054.

39 Kai Michael Kenkel, “Interests, Identity and Brazilian Peacekeeping Policy”, The Perspective of the World Review, Vol. 3, No. 2 (2011), pp. 17–18 [09–35].

40 Rafael Mesquita, “A identidade internacional do Brasil: uma síntese da literatura”, Carta Internacional, Vol. 11, No. 3 (2016), pp. 5–31.

41 Celso Lafer, A Identidade Internacional do Brasil e a Política Externa Brasileira: passado, presente e futuro, 2nd ed. (São Paulo: Perspectiva, 2004).

42 Alfredo Valladão, “Brazil – Defense Without Threat”, in Felix Dane (ed.), Multilateral Security Governance, XI Conference of Forte de Copacabana – International Security: A European-South American Dialogue (Rio de Janeiro: Konrad-Adenauer Stiftung, 2014).

43 Miriam Gomes Saraiva, “Continuidade e mudança na política externa brasileira: as especificidades do comportamento externo brasileiro de 2003 a 2010”, Relações Internacionais, Vol. 37 (2013), pp. 63–78.

44 Celso Amorim, “Brazilian Foreign Policy under President Lula (2003–2010): An Overview”, Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional, Special edition, Vol. 53 (2010), pp. 214–240.

45 Mathilde Chatin, “Brazil: Analysis of a Rising Soft Power”, Journal of Political Power, Vol. 9, No. 3 (2016), pp. 369–393.

46 Stuenkel and Tourinho, op. cit. Spektor, op. cit.

47 Carlos Milani, “Atores e agendas no campo da política externa brasileira de direitos humanos”, in Letícia Pinheiro and Carlos Milani (org.), Política externa brasileira: a política das práticas e as práticas da política (Rio de Janeiro: FGV Editora, 2011).

48 Tourinho, op. cit.

49 Lopes and Valente, op. cit.

50 Gelson Fonseca Jr., “Política externa brasileira padrões e descontinuidades no período republicano”, Relações Internacionais, Vol. 29 (2011), pp. 15–32.

51 Antonio Cançado Trindade, “O Brasil e o direito internacional dos direitos humanos: as duas últimas décadas (1985–2005)”, in Henrique Altemani and Antonio Carlos Lessa (org.), Relações internacionais do Brasil: temas e agendas, Vol. 2. (São Paulo: Ed Saraiva/IBRI, 2006).

52 Both the ratification status of treaties and the acceptance of individual complaints procedures are available at: https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?CountryID=24&Lang=EN

53 Steen Fryba Christensen, “Brazil's Foreign Policy Priorities”, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 2 (2013), pp. 271–286.

54 Amado Luiz CERVO, “Brazil's Rise on the International Scene: Brazil and the World”, Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional, Vol. 53, special edition (2010), pp. 07–32.

55 Gregory. T. Chin and Ismael. B. Diaz, “Brazil in Regional and Global Governance: Foreign Policy, Leadership and UNASUR”, International Organisations Research Journal, Vol. 11, No. 2 (2016), p. 60 [52–69].

56 Mesquita, op. cit.

57 Cristina Soreanu Pecequilo, “O Brasil e os eixos periféricos: agenda e identidade nas relações internacionais”, Cadernos de Esudos Culturais, Vol. 4, No. 8 (2012), p. 12 [01–12].

58 Stuenkel, and Tourinho, op. cit.

59 In addition, at the regional level, the Brazilian state is part of the legal oversight mechanisms of the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, a court which is primarily devoted to individual and political rights.

60 Tourinho, op. cit., p. 91.

61 Fonseca Jr., op. cit.

62 Cervo, and Lessa, op. cit.

63 “Seeking to improve its relations with the Global South, refraining from value judgements concerning other states political models, Brazil was very criticised in this period for keeping ties with autocratic regimes and abstaining on votes at the Human Rights Council.” See also: Milani, op. cit., p. 50.

64 Stuenkel and Tourinho, op. cit.

65 Spektor, op. cit.

66 Stuenkel and Tourinho, op. cit.

67 Ibid.

68 UN Report, op. cit.

69 Stuenkel and Tourinho, op. cit.

70 Ibid.

71 Saliba, Lopes, and Vieira, op. cit.

72 Spektor, op. cit., p. 57.

73 Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida, “From Non-indifference to Responsibility while Protecting: Brazil's Diplomacy and the Search for Global Norms”, Global Power and Africa Programme, Occasional Paper Nr 138, (April 2013), pp. 01–28.

74 Kenkel and Stefan, op. cit.

75 The position of former foreign relations ministry Antonio Patriota was given in an interview carried out by one of the authors on April 23, 2017.

76 Christensen, op. cit.

77 Patriota, personal interview.

78 Kenkel and Stefan, op. cit.

79 Ramesh Thakur, “R2P after Libya and Syria: Engaging Emerging Powers”, The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 2 (2013), pp. 61–76.

80 Spektor, op. cit.

81 Roland Paris. “The ‘Responsibility to Protect’ and the Structural Problems of Preventive Humanitarian Intervention”, International Peacekeeping, Vol. 21, No. 5 (2014), p. 589 [569–603].

82 Pu, op. cit.

83 Longman Dictionary, s.n. “Prescription.”

84 Cambridge Dictionary, s.n. “Prescription.”

85 Oxford Dictionary, s.n. “Prescribe.”

86 Informal Dialogues begun in 2009. Their low institutionalisation is reflected, for instance, in the short time available for country statements (3 minutes).

87 See: http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/.

88 Brazil. Brazil's Statement at the 2011 PoC, (May, 2011), available: http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/component/content/article/35-r2pcs-topics/5758-brazils-statements-on-rtop-from-2009-to-present (accessed 12 January 2020).

89 This view is held by former minister Patriota, who believes R2P and PoC are part of the same debate (Personal interview).

90 Taylan Kaya, The Middle East Peace Process: Foreign Policy and Security Strategy in International Politics (London: I.B. Taurus, 2013). Damir Kapidzic. “International Role of the European Union in the Western Balkans? Measuring Consistency and Coherence of Value Expression in the EU's External Relations”, Croatian International Relations Review, Vol. 17, No. 62/63 (2011), pp. 5–17. Jorg Husar, Framing Foreign Policy in India, Brazil and South Africa: On the Like-Mindedness of the IBSA States (Cham: Springer, 2016). Sandra Destradi. Indian Foreign and Security Policy in South Asia: Regional Power Strategies (London: Routledge, 2011).

91 Philipp Mayring, Qualitative Content Analysis: Theoretical Foundation, Basic Procedures and Software Solution (Klagenfurt: Primary Publication, 2014), pp. 32–39. Margrit Schreier, Qualitative Content Analysis in Practice (London: Sage, 2012), p. 13.

92 Margrit Schreier. “Qualitative Content Analysis”, in Uwe Flick (ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis (London: SAGE, 2014), p. 73.

93 Margrit Schreier, Qualitative Content Analysis in Practice (London: Sage, 2012), p. 13.

94 Ibid. Margrit Schreier, “Qualitative Content Analysis”, in Uwe Flick (ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis (London: SAGE, 2014), p. 73.

95 For instance: “If force is contemplated, action must be judicious, proportionate and strictly limited to the objectives of the mandate”. See: Brazil, Statement by H. E. Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, (September 8, 2015), available: http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/brazil(1).pdf (accessed 12 January 2020). “It [the use of force] should in no way aggravate tensions on the ground and cause harm to the very same innocent lives we are committed to protecting”. See: Brazil, Letter dated 9 November 2011 from the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, (November 9, 2011), available: http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/concept-paper-_rwp.pdf (accessed 12 January 2020).

96 Brazil, Remarks by H.E. Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti (July 23, 2009), available: http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/brazil-2009-r2p-debate.pdf (accessed 12 January 2020).

97 Brazil, Statement by H.E. Antonio de Aguiar Patriota (September 8, 2014), available: http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/brazil-prepared.pdf (accessed 12 January 2020).

98 Brazil, Brazil's Statement at the 2016 UN General Assembly Thematic Panel Discussion, from Commitment to Implementation: Ten Years of Responsibility to Protect [Transcribed], (February 16, 2016), available: http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/Brazilian%20Statement%20.pdf (accessed 12 January 2020).

99 Stefan, op. cit.

100 Brazil, Brazil's Statement at the 2009 PoC, (October, 2009), available: http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/component/content/article/35-r2pcs-topics/5758-brazils-statements-on-rtop-from-2009-to-present (accessed 15 January 2020).

101 Brazil, Brazil's Statement at the 2012 PoC, (June, 2012), available: http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/component/content/article/35-r2pcs-topics/5758-brazils-statements-on-rtop-from-2009-to-present (accessed 15 January 2020).

102 The key aspect in this regard was raised in the SG's report: the responsibility to protect is intended to reinforce, not undermine, sovereignty. For details, see: Brazil, Statement by H. E. Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, (September 8, 2015), available: http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/brazil(1).pdf (accessed 15 January 2020).

103 Brazil, Statement by H. E. Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota (September 8, 2015), available: http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/brazil(1).pdf (accessed 15 January 2020).

104 Stuenkel and Tourinho, op. cit.; Spektor op. cit.

105 Tourinho, op. cit.; Kenkel, op. cit.

106 Mikelli Ribeiro, Marcelo Medeiros, and Alexandre Leite, “China's Engagement with R2P: Pluralist Shaper?”, Global Responsibility to Protect (forthcoming).

107 Brazil, Letter Dated 9 November 2011 from the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations Addressed to the Secretary-General, (November 9, 2011), available: http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/concept-paper-_rwp.pdf (accessed 12 January 2020).

108 Pu, op. cit., p. 358.

109 Ribeiro, op. cit.

110 To solve this conflict, we followed the descriptions of the categories and, whenever necessary, we established decision rules, in tune with the methodological guidelines of QCA.

111 Brazil, Statement by H.E. Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, (July 12, 2012), available: http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/brazil-stmt.pdf. (accessed 12 January 2020).

112 Brazil, Statement by H. E. Ambassador Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, (September 8, 2015), available: http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/brazil(1).pdf. (accessed 15 January 2020).

113 Stefan, op. cit.; Welsh, op. cit.

114 Brazil, Statement by H.E. Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, (September 8, 2014), available: http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/brazil-prepared.pdf (accessed 12 January 2020).

115 Brazil, Statement by H.E. Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, (July 12, 2012), available: http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/brazil-stmt.pdf (accessed 12 January 2020).

116 Brazil, Remarks by H.E. Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, (July 23, 2009), available: http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/brazil-2009-r2p-debate.pdf (accessed 12 January 2020).

117 Brazil, Responsibility while Protecting (RwP). (2011), available: http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/component/content/article/35-r2pcs-topics/5758-brazils-statements-on-rtop-from-2009-to-present (accessed 15 February 2020).

118 Brazil, Brazil's Statement at the 2013 PoC, (November, 2013), available: http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/component/content/article/35-r2pcs-topics/5758-brazils-statements-on-rtop-from-2009-to-present (accessed 12 January 2020).

119 Brazil, Letter dated 9 November 2011 from the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, (November 9, 2011), available: http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/concept-paper-_rwp.pdf (accessed 15 January 2020).

120 Brazil, Statement by H.E. Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, (September 8, 2014), available: http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/brazil-prepared.pdf (accessed 15 January 2020).

121 Brazil, Statement by H.E. Antonio de Aguiar Patriota, (September 8, 2014), available: http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/brazil-prepared.pdf (accessed 15 January 2020).

122 Brazil, Brazil's Statement at the 2016 UN General Assembly Thematic Panel Discussion, from Commitment to Implementation: Ten Years of Responsibility to Protect [Transcribed], (February 16, 2016), available: http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/Brazilian%20Statement%20.pdf (accessed 15 January 2020).

123 Brazil, Statement by H.E. Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, (July 12, 2012), available: http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/brazil-stmt.pdf (accessed 15 January 2020).

124 Brazil, Brazil's Statement at the 2011 PoC, (May, 2011), available: http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/index.php/component/content/article/35-r2pcs-topics/5758-brazils-statements-on-rtop-from-2009-to-present (accessed 15 January 2020).

125 Brazil, Letter Dated 9 November 2011 from the Permanent Representative of Brazil to the United Nations Addressed to the Secretary-General, (November 9, 2011), available: http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/concept-paper-_rwp.pdf (accessed 15 January 2020).

126 Brazil, Statement by H.E. Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, (September 5, 2012), available: http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/brazil-statement-2012.pdf. (accessed 15 January 2020).

127 Fung, op. cit., p. 1.

128 Ribeiro, Medeiros, and Leite, op. cit.

129 Fung, op. cit., p. 1.

130 Joseph Jegat. “A Norm-in-Formation? An Analysis of Brazil and China's Normative Engagement with the Responsibility to Protect”, Reponsibility to Protect Student Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1 (2016).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mikelli Ribeiro

Mikelli Ribeiro is an Assistant Professor at the Political Science Department, Federal University of Pernambuco (Recife, Brazil). Previously, he was Professor of International Law at the State University of Bahia, Brazil. During his PhD, he was visiting researcher at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy (2017), under the supervision of Prof. Jennifer Welsh. Contact: [email protected].

Rafael Mesquita

Rafael Mesquita is an Assistant Professor at the Federal University of Pernambuco (Recife, Brazil) and an Associate Research Fellow at the German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA Institute). Contact: [email protected].

Mariana Lyra

Mariana Lyra is a Professor of International Relations at the University for International Integration of the Afro-Brazilian Lusophony (Unilab), and Associate Member of Órbita Research Group. Her research interests lie in the area of Foreign Policy and Defense of Emerging Powers. Contact: [email protected].