Conceptualizing Autonomy in Latin American Foreign Policy: Case Study of Brazil under the PT government (2003-2016)

The objective of this article is to conceptualize the meaning of autonomy as a practice of foreign policy. It firstly considers the historical development of this purely Latin American contribution to the theories of international relations, and posteriorly offers specific theoretical framework of autonomy that combines perspectives of realism, interdependency and structuralism. By considering the problematic of international insertion of peripheral countries, the autonomous behavior of Brazil during the Workers Party government (2003-2016) is analyzed as a specific case study. The behavior of distinct variables identified in the theoretical framework is offered as an explanation for changing degrees of autonomy exercised by Brazil during the period considered. Towards the end of the article, impediments that Brazil encounters on its path towards becoming a world power are put into perspective, concluding how this country, for depending on too many factors that are outside of its control, is only a pendulum power.