Instituições regionais de segurança e defesa: UNASUL e União Europeia em perspectiva comparada

Abstract

Considering comparative analysis as a unique tool for understanding heterogeneous phenomena, including the dynamics of the international scenario, this dissertation compares the security and defense institutions of UNASUR and the European Union, in an attempt to understand the logic of cooperation in security and defense within regional organizations. As a research problem, it seeks to answer the question of why cooperation on security and defense issues represents an inflection, since the issues still face obstacles that prevent their deepening at the regional level. Under this scope, the investigation takes examines the South American Defense Council (SADC), which represents the first security and defense cooperation initiative among all South American countries, and the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP), which constitutes the current stage of European integration on these topics. Therefore, the analysis is located at the intersection of the regional and domestic levels, but does not exclude interaction with the international level, which understanding is necessary to debate regional dynamics. The Regional Security Complexes theory, proposed by Buzan and Waever (2003), is used to scrutinize the problem, since, according to this proposition, the security problems faced by the States of a given region cannot be considered individually. Such theoretical benchmark enables an examination of these issues altogether through regional institutions. The time frame of the investigation begins in 2008, due to the creation of the SADC and the European negotiations that preceded the creation of the CSDP, and will continue until 2016. Finally, the categories for the comparison between the objects investigated are: nature, origin, longevity, institutional model, structure, decision rule, breadth of the agenda and objectives and the level of convergence of the regional powers, essential elements that can be useful to analyze the impasses facing security and defense cooperation.