Geopolítica e meio ambiente na política externa brasileira dos anos 1970

Abstract

The object of this research consists in analyzing Brazil’s foreign policy on the environment in the decade of 1970. During this period, two important moments related to the environmental issue were part the Brazilian external agenda: The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, also known as the Stockholm Conference, in 1972, and the Amazon Cooperation Treaty (ACT), in 1978. It started from the initial perception that in both moments the foreign policy seemed to deal with the environment in a very different way in this short period of time, which motivated the research. Based on the adopted theoretical understanding about the foreign policy of a country, it was sought to understand the articulation of internal and external conditions in relation to the construction of the positioning of Brazilian foreign policy in the face of the rise of the environment as an agenda of international relations in the 1970s. To that end, were used official documents, such as reports from Itamaraty, explanatory statements, statements by Brazilian representatives and resolutions by international bodies. It was found that geopolitical and developmental aspects have always been acting as a background to the environmental approach taken by Brazilian foreign policy, influencing Brazil to come to incorporate these issues through its diplomacy.