An ocean for the Global South: Brazil and the zone of peace and cooperation in the South Atlantic

Abstract

In this article, we analyse an instance of revitalisation of a dormant interregional organisation dating back to the Cold War: the Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic (ZOPACAS), initially launched by South American and African states in 1986 through the UN General Assembly. Drawing on the concepts of “consensual hegemony” we argue that the current phase of ZOPACAS’ existence is characterised by Brazil's efforts to rekindle it, thus reflecting its aspiration to create a new space of influence. Rather than pursuing more traditional forms of regional leadership, Brazil uses ZOPACAS as part of a persuasion-based strategy based on regional multilateralism that is designed in antagonism to other international organisations and Western powers. However, this strategy also faces important limitations resulting from resource constraints, lack of institutionalisation and an excessive exclusionary focus on minimising the role of global powers with interests in the region.

Notes

¹ The bulk of these efforts were largely based on the initial outreach carried out under Presidents Jânio Quadros and João Goulart’s Independent Foreign Policy line between 1961 and 1964. Afterwards, Brazilian officials maintained steady economic interests towards such regional heavyweights as Nigeria and Angola.

² Brazil has also worked to vastly expand the international legal definition of its territorial waters by filing a proposal with UNCLOS, based on surveys of its own continental shelf (da Silva 2013).

³ Interview #1 with Brazilian diplomat, Brasília, June 2013.

⁴ Similar attempts can be observed with China’s promotion of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank or Russia’s push for the Eurasian Economic Union, both initiatives creating tensions with existing institutions.

⁵ A/RES/41/11 of 27 October 1986.

⁶ The abstainers were Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, and West Germany.

⁷ See, for example, the Declaration on the Marine Environment adopted at the third meeting in Brasília; A/49/467, Annex III of 4 October 1994.

⁸ A/49/467, Annex II of 4 October 1994.

⁹ A/49/467, 31 of 4 October 1994.

¹⁰ A/61/1019, Annex 1 of 7 August 2007.

¹¹ A/61/PV.107 of 13 September 2007.

¹² Interview #2 with Angolan diplomat, Luanda, June 2014.

¹³ Interview #3 with Brazilian diplomat, Brasília, June 2013.

¹⁴ Further evidence of such thematic expansion can be found in the topics covered by the declarations. If by 1999 in Buenos Aires the final declaration included 23 points, in Luanda that number expanded to 80 and afterwards, in Montevideo, to 124.

¹⁵ A/67/746, Annex 1 of 19 February 2013.

¹⁶ Interview #4 with Namibian diplomat, Windhoek, June 2014.

¹⁷ A/67/476, Annex I of 14 February 2013.