UM “EXCEPCIONALISMO BRASILEIRO”? A POLÍTICA EXTERNA DE ERNESTO ARAÚJO

Abstract

This article investigates the effective presence of exceptionalist thinking in the management of Chancellor Ernesto Araújo during his term as Minister of Foreign Affairs. The time frame covered goes from January 2019 to March 2021. For this, we used the literature on exceptionalism by Bradford and Posner, Nymalm and Plagemann, and Humphreys. Methodologically, this is qualitative research in the form of a case study, according to George and Bennet, as a single case study comparison, based on Landman's proposal. In the sense of Bardin and Pashakhanlou, we added a thematic content analysis, focusing on the minister's inauguration speech and the text “Trump and the West” to find traces of exceptionalism in the minister's thinking for implementing foreign policy. In addition, we sought to identify the role of the USA in this Brazilian exceptionalism, in parallel with the historical moment of Eurico Gaspar Dutra's presidency and the alignment with the USA, from the perspective of the works of Gérson Moura and Amado Cervo. It is concluded that despite the “novelty” Minister Ernesto tried to bring, especially in the Brazil-USA relationship, the two historical periods converge in the lack of practical results beneficial to Brazil.