In recent years, the South Atlantic has attracted an increased focus for such renewed perils as piracy spikes and transnational drug trafficking flows, coupled with stately instability in African shores. In this context, Brazil has attempted to discursively assert its regional leadership and side-line unwanted interferences from countries and/or organizations that are perceived as not sufficiently in tune with its own agenda. Although deemed less threatening, the European Union (EU) and its member states are often included in such excluding narrative. This label, however, stands in contrast with the EU’s latest maritime security efforts in the Gulf of Guinea and capacity-building of several African littoral states. Such a dissociation over a potential North-South fault-line concerning the South Atlantic raises key questions over the bloc’s ability to partake with rising powers on maritime security issues under both the Strategic Partnerships and Maritime Security Strategy (EUMSS) framework. This paper traces Brazilian interests towards the area in juxtaposition to the EU’s own involvement while seeking to unpack the latter’s toolbox to both engage and entice the former into a more cooperative outcome.

--

Brasil,Segurança marítima,União Europeia,Atlântico Sul

• Political Science - Social Sciences