The Responsibility to Protect – From Evasive to Reluctant Action?
mentary approach to R2P, which is the Responsibility while Protecting (RwP) initiative. It suggested a reflection on principles and criteria that should guide R2P operations in order to legitimise intervention to protect civilians on behalf of a more responsible international community. Despite being treated as a Brazilian proposal, RwP is not a novelty per se: the same principles are found in international law, and similar criteria have been discussed for at least a decade by scholars, by United Nations (UN) secretary-generals and by policy-makers. The real contribution to the R2P debate should be limited to the creation of new vocabulary under which one finds existing principles and parameters that help to consolidate the debate. It is possible, however, that the Brazilian position as a global player may be jeopardised by RwP. Until now, Brazil has relied on diplomacy to promote ideas and values related to international peace and security, and, if it cannot back up these ideas with action, its discourse as a global player is likely to lose its legitimacy. In other words, up to now Brazil ’s discourse and practice have been consistent with what is expected from a middle power; but its status has recently changed, and it is still acting on the global stage with preferred solutions that are not necessarily consistent with this new status. Either the world will change to accommodate a narrative that eminently privileges soft power, or Brazil will need to adapt its discourse or practice for the sake of coherence and reputation.
Brazilian foreign policy: Fundamentals and constraints of a global player In order to understand the Brazilian position on R2P, one must look for the underlying conditions that shape its foreign policy. These result from: • non-material components (tradition, beliefs and legal constraints) • lack of material capacity (economic and military) It is also important to distinguish between the idealistic and the pragmatic components of Brazil ’s foreign policy. The idealistic component, manifested in its discourses, believes in a different type of international society. According to Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Patriota, issues related to social progress, human rights, and the fight against hunger and poverty are
72