The Role of a Donor in an Emerging Power’s Foreign Policy: Brazilian Solidarity Diplomacy

Since 2003, Brazil has been searching for efficient modalities directed at deepening ties with Latin American and African states, such as knowledge sharing and engaging in dialogue on alternative ways of tackling common development challenges. Considered by Brazilian policymakers to be expressions of solidarity diplomacy, these concepts and modalities are part of what has been coined Brazil’s “autonomy through diversification” strategy. Brazilian presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff consecutively pursued geopolitical realignments focused on the creation of a multipolar world order with a strengthened, more visible position for Brazil, an emerging world power. This paper will examine the practical and theoretical implications of Brazil’s reconceptualization of its role as a donor of development aid, as well as donor-recipient relations as expressed in the two presidents’ official speeches, documents of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency, and COBRADI reports Furthermore, it will explore whether Brazil’s declared role as a development partner and its practices in the capacity thereof are consistent with the expectations of other significant development cooperation actors.