Conservationist geopolitics: Brazilian foreign policy and the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary

• Published in: Marine policy 2020-10, Vol.120, p.104054, Article 104054
• Main Author: Marcondes, Danilo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brazil; International Whaling Commission; South Atlantic; Whales
• ISSN: 0308-597X; 1872-9460
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2020.104054

The purpose of this article is to analyze the proposal of the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary (SAWS), presented by Brazil in the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The article discusses the SAWS proposal as part of Brazil’s foreign policy strategy, instead of looking at the technical aspects related to the merit of the proposal from a strictly environmental perspective. The article makes the claim that the proposal can be understood as part of a broader Brazilian diplomatic effort to construct a specific identity for the South Atlantic Ocean space, one that is particularly related to the Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic (ZOPACAS, in Portuguese). By looking at the role of Brazil in proposing the SAWS, the article also sheds light into Southern agency in issues related to ocean governance, international cooperation and environmental protection. The research benefited from interviews with Brazilian diplomats involved with the IWC and access to Brazilian diplomatic communication related to the IWC in the 2000–2016 period.