Uma análise civilizacional da política externa brasileira

This article investigates how Brazilian Foreign Policy (BFP) has oscillated between two civilizational orientations—Westernism and autonomism—in the context of the transition to a multipolar international order. It begins with the following research question: To what extent does the dispute between these orientations express different conceptions of civilizational identity and national development? The central hypothesis is that these orientations constitute ideal types that recurrently structure BFP's strategic choices since the post-Cold War period. Methodologically, a qualitative approach is adopted, grounded in a critical literature review and the construction of ideal types, and applied to a comparative analysis of the FHC, Lula, Dilma, and Bolsonaro governments. It argues that the civilizational lens, inspired by Darcy Ribeiro, enables the articulation of identity, development, and international insertion in a consistent analytical manner, a subject rarely addressed in Brazilian academia.