Brazil as a development partner under Lula and Dilma: Shifts and continuities

The chapter explores, through Foreign Policy Analysis, the shifts and continuities of Brazil’s trajectory as a partner in South–South development cooperation (SSDC) by comparing President Dilma Rousseff’s first administration (2011–14) to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s two presidential terms (2003–10). The paper argues that despite the slowdown of presidential diplomacy, new priorities, budgetary cuts and a much more challenging political and economic national context during Rousseff’s mandate, coalitions have continued to mobilize, ensuring continuity in certain sectors of technical cooperation, as well as expansion into new areas. The intersections between technical cooperation, financial cooperation and trade also increased during the period, while the national development cooperation framework remained marked by institutional and legal fragilities.

Authors: Bianca Suyama, Laura Trajber Waisbich and Iara Costa Leite

Published in: Jing Gu, Alex Shankland, Anuradha Chenoy (org.) The BRICS in international development. International Polical Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.