Event

There have been several explanations offered by Brazilian foreign policy analysts on understanding the country’s decision to lead MINUSTAH’s (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) military component. These analyses conceive foreign policy decisions as the result of rational processes, defined by a “means-and-ends” logic. This is essentially oriented by preconceived national interests, clear ideational precepts and fixed identities.

At this event Maíra Siman will present part of her research entitled “‘Pacification’ as a ‘foreign policy’ practice of (re)production of the state self: rewriting the participation of Brazil in MINUSTAH” and discuss her most recent article “Analyzing interventionism beyond conventional foreign policy rationales: the engagement of Brazil in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

The presentation will advance an understanding of foreign policy as an identity practice that, especially in moments of domestic identity crisis, helps reinforcing and stabilizing specific representations of the state self and of those acting in its name. This approach aims to open some avenues to explore how “emerging power” interventionism can be studied beyond traditional foreign policy rationales and mainstream international relations theories.

Maíra Siman is Associate Professor at Institute of International Relations, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Brazil. She holds a master’s degree from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Geneva) and a PhD in International Relations from PUC-Rio. She is currently Deputy Coordinator of the Global South Unit for Mediation (GSUM). Her main areas of research are: Peace Operations; Conflict Resolution; Foreign Policy Analysis; Brazilian Foreign Policy and History of International Relations.

Chair is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Research group on foreign policy and diplomacy at NUPI Benjamin de Carvalho