Revisiting consensual hegemony: Brazilian regional leadership in question

Abstract

A central challenge confronting Brazilian foreign policy is its reluctance to accept measures that might restrict national autonomy. This limits the extent to which Brazil can lead and leverage the region, particularly in the face of competing visions such as ALBA and the Pacific Alliance. The issues is Brazil’s continued reliance on a consensual hegemony approach to regional relations after neighbouring countries opened space for a more assertive leadership closer to Pedersen’s model of cooperative hegemony. Although consensual hegemony allowed Brazil to establish its project in South America, by the end of Lula’s first presidential term more was being demanded and the failure to provide leadership goods weakened Brazil’s regional position. Current questioning of Brazilian leadership on the continent is found in an almost contradictory approach that sees Brazilian diplomats pushing away suggestions of assertive leadership while more concrete action is quietly taken by other regionally engaged sections of the Brazilian state.