Marcelo Coutinho – Aljazeera, 09/06/2012
The Arab Spring happened and Brazil’s foreign ministry noticed. Our diplomats were unable to handle the situation, did not support democratic movements, and lost the ground it gained over decades in the Middle East.
Whatever name you want to give, the “Arab Spring” is the most significant world event since the end of the Cold War. Nobody predicted it. Civilisation theorists until now, such as Bernard Lewis and Samuel Huntington, claimed it would be impossible that this could happen in Muslim societies.
But after the process began, all the foreign ministries worldwide revisited their perceptions, concepts, and equations and adjusted and adapted their foreign policies in the region, except Brazil.
