From Science Diplomacy to Education Diplomacy: the brazilian case

Abstract

O uso de recursos de soft power em estratégias inteligentes, geralmente tem sido vinculada pela literatura aos países desenvolvidos devido a uma perspectiva em que - especialmente - soft power é visto como uma extensão do hard power. No entanto, o Brasil, um país em desenvolvimento, assina Acordos Culturais desde a década de 1930, com o objetivo de usar a ciência e a educação como ferramentas diplomáticas. Este artigo tem como objetivo dar uma perspectiva histórica à diplomacia científica brasileira através da assinatura desses acordos culturais bilaterais desde a década de 1930 e seu desenvolvimento na diplomacia educacional na década de 1960. Mostramos neste artigo que o Brasil criou uma forte diplomacia científica, incorporada à sua diplomacia cultural, baseando-se na criação de uma narrativa legítima baseada na cultura, ciência e educação como alternativa à sua falta de força. Esses acordos culturais foram desenvolvidos em programas de intercâmbio nacional focados principalmente em estudantes do ensino superior desde 1965, e ainda existem hoje em dia - uma das estratégias de diplomacia da ciência (e da educação) mais longas do mundo, criando uma política externa bem-sucedida e estável, administrada pelo órgão diplomático brasileiro.

The Institutional Building of Science and Innovation Diplomacy in Latin America: Toward a Comprehensive Analytical Typology

“…Since the 1920's, they have a long trajectory of S&ID embedded in cultural agreements, and the so-called “cultural diplomacy” explicitly encompassed science and education as the subject of international politics. Furthermore, those agreements aimed at fostering LA countries' soft power abroad and regional integration in the search for development and economic autonomy from the major global powers (Santos, 2009 ; Ferreira and Oliveira, 2020 ).…”

Representative offices of universities abroad - the case of U.S. universities in Brazil

“…Led by the Brazilian government, it is currently being administered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its Department of Educational Themes mentioned earlier (2020). Unlike Jane , Ferreira and Oliveira (2020) understand that education diplomacy is connected to higher education. That might be so because Ferreira and Oliveira's study was about Brazil's Ministry of Education's programs, and such Ministry also runs programs for graduate education (2020).…”

“…Drawing from the literature, Ferreira and Oliveira (2020) define science diplomacy as the interaction between the actions of researchers and diplomats with the explicit intent of building positive relationships with foreign governments and societies (FERREIRA; OLIVEIRA, 2020).…”

“…Researchers argue that cultural agreements, for example, can be governmental strategies of power that seek to increase the influence of one country over another through key individuals involved in activities within these agreements, who are usually scientists and the higher education community, who may be considered elites and opinion and/or decisionmakers (FERREIRA; OLIVEIRA, 2020). Ferreira and Oliveira (2020) affirm that education, science, and technology are connected to higher education, which trains professors, researchers, and decision-makers who will occupy strategic positions in schools, universities, companies, institutions, and governments and, ultimately, will be key to the dissemination of ideas to groups of people in their countries, being considered vectors of soft power. Even Nye cites examples of U.S. sources of power within institutions that spread principles underlying U.S. society, such as universities, by saying, "[y]oung Japanese who have never been to the United States wear sports jackets with the names of American colleges" (NYE, 1990, 168).…”