Continuities and Ruptures in Brazilian Foreign Policy within the Scope of Science and Technology Cooperation Relations with the BRICS (2008-2022)

Abstract

This research analyzes the impact of ideological divergence on Brazilian Foreign Policy (BFP) from 2008 to 2022, within the scope of science, technology, and innovation (ST&I) cooperation with the BRICS. Methodologically, the research is characterized as an exploratory qualitative study, based on documentary analysis and a literature review. The theoretical framework is anchored in the post-colonial approach, used as a critical lens to interpret power asymmetries and the search for autonomy in the international system. The BFP, as shaped by different governments (Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Dilma Rousseff, Michel Temer, and Jair Bolsonaro), alternated between institutional and ideological continuities and ruptures. Although ST&I cooperation was a central axis of the BRICS, Brazil’s engagement fluctuated drastically. During the Lula and Dilma administrations, participation was active and proactive, seeking autonomy and leadership. During the Temer and Bolsonaro administrations, however, more pragmatic postures that were ideologically aligned with the US were adopted, weakening the country’s leading role and the deepening of its ST&I agenda within the group. The study concludes that the ruptures in the foreign policies of Brazilian governments negatively impacted science and technology cooperation with the BRICS. Keywords: Brazilian foreign policy. BRICS. Science and technology cooperation. Ideological divergence. Technological innovation.