Defence in the Foreign Policy of the Lula Administration: From the Elusive to the Proclaimed

Considering defence and diplomacy as two pillars of foreign policy, Brazil gave priority to diplomacy—the hallmark of its international insertion—at least in the twentieth century. In a new framework of moderate but consistent economic growth, new propositions and actions have led to new goals, such as bidding for a seat at the UNSC. During the two governments of Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, there were signs of further activity in the area of defence, including increased investments in defence technology. However, the central argument of this paper is that defence has still not reached the status of diplomacy and the reforms adopted so far do not indicate significant changesin the short to medium term.