From Port-au-Prince to New York: Brazil''s Approach to Peacekeeping and the Quest for Security Council Membership

Under the Lula Administration, Brazil has broken with several long-standing foreign policy traditions in an aggressive quest to gain international profile. The country''s diplomacy has moved from its traditional regional focus to greater emphasis on global-level clout. One of the primary tools for this new mission has been the development of a specific Brazilian approach to peace operations, particularly with regard to peacebuilding. The country plays a leading role in the UN mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH, which has served as a laboratory for a peacebuilding model based on minimising the use of force where possible, support for local ownership, and the use of cultural affinities to maximum effect. The successes of this nascent paradigm have in turn been used to maximum effect in a consciously aggressive campaign to establish Brazil as a major global player, whereas its weaknesses have been glossed over. This paper examines the Brazilian approach to peacebuilding and its relationship both to Brazil''s "charm offensive" for a seat on the Security Council, and it positioning in the global division of labour in peace operations proposed in DPKO''s New Horizon report.