Brazilian View Of Responsibility To Protect

Abstract

Brazil’s foreign policy has traditionally been conducted based on the principle of non-intervention. With the objective of attaining a permanent seat on the Security Council, the country has been demonstrating an effective engagement in peace operations. The principle of non-intervention has given way to that of non-indifference, which represents the first major change in Brazilian diplomacy. A second change stems from Brazil’s proposal of ‘responsibility while protecting’. While this initiative demonstrates the country’s intention to participate actively in the UN, one might ask whether it makes any substantial contribution to the RtoP debate, since several fundamental questions remain unanswered. Is this an attempt to renegotiate and reformulate the concept of RtoP or is it a new a strategy to implement measures based on the RtoP? This article aims to analyse the evolution of the Brazilian view on the RtoP in order to understand its true value.