O programa nuclear brasileiro

Abstract

This thesis poses the question whether the motivations for Brazilian nuclear proliferation can be explained by Scott Sagan’s three models, as outlined in his ‘Why do states build nuclear weapons? Three models in search of a bomb’. The academic discourse regarding nuclear proliferation is dissected, leading to the conclusion that the governing neorealist interpretations are incomplete and inadequate. The security model does not provide a comprehensive account of the decision-making with regard to Brazilian nuclear proliferation outside the late 1960s. Domestic factors dominated decision-making on the Brazilian nuclear programme during the 1970s and early 1980s. Norms-based factors spelled the end for Brazil’s nuclear aspirations in the late 1980s. It can be so concluded that Sagan’s framework of three models provides a comprehensive and explanatory approach to decision-making at the inception and the conclusion of, as well as during the Brazilian nuclear programme. This thesis makes use of a great many primary sources, such as Brazilian government documents relating to Brazil’s nuclear programme from the 1960s to the 1990s, newly released by the Fundação Getúlio Vargas in conjunction with the Wilson Center. Also, this thesis is supported by a wide array of secondary literature on nuclear proliferation, such as Shultz and Sagan, as well as literature on Brazil’s nuclear programme, such as Skidmore.