Abstract in English:

Abstract The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is the most recent addition to the United Nations’ mechanisms to monitor human rights worldwide. Its creation in 2007 symbolized a more cooperative and less asymmetrical alternative for the treatment of human rights than more traditional mechanisms. The body of literature on UPR usually offers two attributes to it: contemporaneity and originality. While both generically denote the emergence of a “new” element in the international system; individually, each one makes up a different idea. This article proposes a precise and analytically dense elaboration on these attributes by examining (i) the political-normative paradigm at its creation, as well as (ii) the UPR’s originality factors compared to other traditional human rights mechanisms. This specific exam helps resolve possible analytical-conceptual mismatches between the UPR and the more traditional human rights mechanisms. It also allows for the identification of gaps and potentials to expand the academic knowledge and the professional performance in the UPR’s practical field.

Abstract in English:

Abstract Infrastructure development is a strategic axis for Latin America, historically hindered by various challenges. In the 2000s, regional initiatives like IIRSA and COSIPLAN aimed to enhance infrastructure and competitiveness. However, political and economic instability disrupted these efforts, leading to the dismantling of regional efforts, as seen with the South American Nations Union (UNASUR). Despite this, infrastructure development continued, driven by various actors that used it to expand their influence. Between 2014-2015, China emerged as a key player in financing infrastructure, prompting the U.S. and the EU to launch initiatives to counterbalance China’s influence in the region from 2019-2021. This paper underscores the importance of infrastructure in Latin America as a geopolitical lever to analyze global power struggles in the region.

Abstract in English:

Abstract The text analyzes Chilean neighborhood paradiplomacy with Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, practice carried out under three conditions: a history of conflicts and border problems with the three neighbors; the absence of diplomatic relations between Chile and Bolivia and the existence of subnational and social actors paradiplomacy, restricted by the power of the State, whose vision is dominated by security perceptions.

Abstract in English:

Abstract Indigenous political activism has been an emerging subject for International Relations scholars whose work has focused on critical concepts in order to engage difference and democratize the field. In this paper, we discuss the cosmopolitical activism employed by the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) against neoextractivism in the country. In order to understand how cosmopolitics is deployed, we investigate the Free Land Camps’ mobilizations between 2004 and 2023. We explore the interconnection between Indigenous cosmology and the exercise of politics, arguing that Indigenous activism in the Camps offers a possibility to subvert the artificial boundaries of the international.

Abstract in English:

Abstract In the face of growing restrictions against Huawei in much of ‘the West’ because of the US’ efforts to portray its 5G roll out as a security threat, most of the developing world has resisted such efforts. By drawing on Balzacq’s analytical framework - centred on the degree of congruence between the audience, the securitizing agent’s ability to construct a convincing frame of reference, the role of contextual factors, and securitization counterclaims - it is argued that 5G securitization failed in Brazil and South Africa (2019-2022). Although the contextual factors in both cases were similar (economic interests with China, Huawei’s established role and access to Covid vaccines), in South Africa, narratives of development and cost/benefit considerations overshadowed perceptions of security risk. In Brazil in contrast, some factions within the Bolsonaro government agreed to the US’ securitization frame, whilst others, citing the risk of damaging relations with Beijing and the sheer costs of replacing Huawei infrastructure, disagreed. In both cases, the contextual factors diminished Huawei as a source of risk, especially in the Brazilian case, tipping the scale in support of those seeking to maintain good relations with Beijing.

Abstract in English:

Abstract In 2022 the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) released the National Interest Framework, formally setting out what South Africa’s national interest is. According to DIRCO this aimed at providing an understanding of, and predictability in South Africa’s international relations. As the latest document in guiding foreign policy the framework reflects a continuation in the rhetoric of foreign policy principles; yet for all its effort in identifying the country’s foreign policy priorities, questions remain concerning the interests it reflects. Indeed, although there has been centralisation of decision-making, this has not translated into presenting a singular foreign policy or national interest position. Rather, South Africa’s national interest reflects a negotiated outcome of different positions among the political elites in government and the ruling party (African National Congress). Using Wight’s national interest taxonomy, the article highlights the presence of multiple positions evident in South Africa’s national interest framework before considering what the implications are for the implementation of foreign policy. This draws on a critical review of foreign policy documents, supported by semi-structured interviews with practitioners, academics, think tanks, and NGOs. The article argues that the national interest framework is not a reflection of one, but an amalgamation of what Wight identifies as realist, revolutionist, and rationalist doctrines. This has left the framework a broad document without specific aims in achieving the national interest. It also goes some way towards accounting for the limited application to date of the national interest framework in facilitating an understanding of South Africa’s international relations.

Abstract in English:

Abstract Based on the literature on rising powers, we contend that India has historically perceived itself as a civilizational entity and benefited from the loopholes opened by power transition periods to connect its material capabilities with its normative ambition. Our methodology compares how India behaved after the Cold War (from 1991) with China’s emergence (2008 onwards) through three variables: (i) the acquisition of economic and military power, (ii) the quest for globalized authority, and (iii) the deliberate pursuit of international leadership. We conclude that if the first was already present after the Cold War, the other two only followed more recently, when India employed a deliberate strategy to shape global issues.

Abstract in English:

Abstract The stated objectives of Nigeria’s foreign policy consistently retain Afrocentric, realistic, and post-colonial aspirations of the country, although their interpretations and implementations inconsistently reflect the patrimonial nature of the state, plurality and identity politics, as well as rational-choice and sentiments of its leadership. Accordingly, foreign policy decisions in Nigeria like many other countries are shaped by multiple factors, including personality, bureaucratic politics, structural issues, and value system of the country. Amidst these is the identity forces of ethnicity, regions, religion, and their interconnectivity, which are central in domestic politics and policy, but underestimated in Nigeria’s foreign policy. This article, therefore, aims to examine the ethno-regional and religious drivers of foreign policy in Nigeria. Relying on secondary sources of data, the article explores these drivers of Nigeria’s foreign policy processes and filters them through the lens of realism, rational-choice, pluralism and critical (Marxist, dependency and Afrocentric) theories.

Abstract in English:

Abstract This paper explores how the world crisis currently affecting liberalism and democracy has impacted Brazil’s and Türkiye’s foreign policy in three multilateral issue areas: security, human rights, and climate change. Assuming that a country’s foreign policy echoes the interplay between international and domestic dynamics, it considers two cases of similar escalation of antidemocratic domestic politics – the Bolsonaro administration (2019-2022) and Erdogan’s first mandate as Türkiye’s president under presidentialism (2018-2023). By means of a comparative methodological framework, it showcases that Bolsonaro and Erdogan may look very similar in their opposition to some (not all) Western and liberal values; however, they adopt different strategies to express their opposition, and neither one rejects multilateralism. The paper analyses their distinct geopolitical motivations in foreign policy based on different conceptions of how states should act in and for development.

Abstract in English:

Abstract The article addresses the question of autonomy in Mexico’s and Brazil’s foreign policies in the context of increasing tensions between the United States and China. Although Mexico’s and Brazil’s relations with China —and to a lesser extent the United States— are very different in nature, both Latin American countries face the same challenge of finding a balance in relations with both great powers. The article analyzes Mexico’s and Brazil’s handling of a “triangular relationship” since 2018, illustrating the scope and limits of each country’s autonomy. In the case of Mexico, economic integration with the United States explains the place of China as both an opportunity and a threat; in the case of Brazil, although China is its major trade partner, domestic interests become as important as structural elements, and its government cannot disregard US concerns. In addition to the review of secondary literature, the article uses a series of interviews of Mexican and Brazilian diplomats.