“Leadership is exerted, but also learned” states Sérgio Danese, in his new book, A Escola de Liderança (The School of Leadership). A career diplomat who served in Washington, Mexico, Paris and Buenos Aires and was Brazil’s Ambassador to Algeria until earlier this year, Danese asserts that in order to understand diplomatic operations and leadership one needs to think analytically and understand Brazil’s history. His book investigates that very question—the history of and analytical thought in Brazilian foreign affairs. Furthermore, Danese released A Escola de liderança at an opportune time for never before has Brazil played such a key role and faced such a multifaceted challenge in global and regional diplomacy.
Currently serving as special advisor in charge of the Ministry of Exterior’s relations with Congress and State Governments, Danese argues that Brazil’s international strategy needs to revolve around the identity of a developing South American country. In Brazil, all political, economic and business projects use this as basis for their international leadership projects.
Diplomatic affairs also need to reflect the country’s history. The author traces the roots of diplomatic pragmatism back to the Portuguese crown, reminding his readers that it was Portugal’s pragmatic external policies that allowed the small country to defend itself against many threats. According to the book, realistic and strong leadership is necessary in the world today. Danese argues that diplomacy must be recognized as “more than anything, a projection of power,” if not, it will be seen as empty rhetoric.
Also the author of the renowned book, Diplomacia Presidencial (Topbooks, 1999), Sérgio Danese’s A Escola de Liderança serves a great addition to his collection. The future has finally come for Brazil. The country’s transition to become a key player in global affairs makes it essential to understand Brazil’s external policies. This book advances that understanding.
Read a review of the book (portuguese)
Like this:
Like Loading...
Posted by Brazil Institute 
IBSA on the 10th anniversary of the Brasilia Decleration
December 20, 2012Franis A. Kornegay – SABC, 12/15/2012
Franics Korenegay was a Public Policy Scholar for the Africa Program at the Wilson Center from June-September 2012
Last year, South Africa hosted the 5th summit of the India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Trilateral Dialogue Forum. In 2013 it is India’s turn. This will mark the 10th anniversary of the Brasilia Declaration that led to the trilateral build up toward the summits of heads-of-state of the three countries that have occurred over the last several years. Meanwhile, all three countries have become members of BRICS, the symbolic vanguard among emerging powers leading the non-Western ‘Rest’ through a transition of relative rise amid Western relative decline.
BRICS has garnered considerably more attention than IBSA and is taken much more seriously as a revisionist actor given the great power status of Russia and China compared to the ‘middle power’ profiles of India, Brazil and South Africa. Russia may be something of a ‘has been’ as the former superpower competitor of the US when it was the Soviet Union. But it remains at least a regionalized great power nonetheless. China on the other hand has effectively emerged.
Given perceptions of Sino-Russia as strategic competitors of ‘lone superpower’ America, BRICS carries a weight that middle power IBSA will never carry. And, it has been gaining momentum to a point where former Indian envoy Rajiv Bhatia, director-general of the Indian Council on World Affairs was moved recently to question what he interprets as IBSA’s relevance.
Read more…
Share this:
Like this: