This article delves into the relationship between Science Diplomacy (SD) and multilateral negotiations, with a specific case study focusing on aluminum production in Jamaica. It highlights the often indirect yet pivotal role of SD in shaping the outcomes of negotiations concerning energy and environmental issues. Although the concept of SD is not always directly at the negotiation table, SD practices act as a bridge between the scientific community and policymakers. The case study analyzes the influence of SD on negotiations related to alumina production in Jamaica, specifically the sale of the Alpart alumina refinery in 2016. It demonstrates how SD diverted negotiations from solely political and commercial considerations to technical discussions on environmental impacts. The crisis initially centered around a coal-based power plant and eventually extended to bauxite extraction, revealing the critical role of affordable energy in aluminum refining. Methodologically, our research design follows the traditional guidelines of a descriptive case study. We employed concepts extracted from both the theory of negotiations and science diplomacy. Leverage power and interests of key actors, including JISCO (Jinquan Iron and Steel Company), the Jamaican government, and the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), are dissected. Ultimately, it underscores the influence of SD practices on the negotiations, shifting the focus towards environmental concerns and highlighting the importance of informed decision-making in international negotiations. JET played a pivotal role by illuminating the environmental hazards and by influencing the redefinition of power dynamics in the negotiations. Thus, this work exemplifies how SD can reshape negotiations and foster sustainable solutions to complex global challenges.

Este artigo explora a relação entre Diplomacia Científica (DC) e negociações multilaterais, com um estudo de caso específico centrado na produção de alumínio na Jamaica. Ele destaca o papel muitas vezes indireto, mas crucial, da DC na formação dos resultados de negociações relacionadas a questões energéticas e ambientais. Embora o conceito de DC nem sempre esteja diretamente na mesa de negociações, as práticas de DC atuam como uma ponte entre a comunidade científica e os formuladores de políticas. O estudo de caso analisa a influência da DC nas negociações relacionadas à produção de alumina na Jamaica, especificamente na venda da refinaria de alumina Alpart em 2016. Ele demonstra como a DC desviou as negociações de considerações puramente políticas e comerciais para discussões técnicas sobre impactos ambientais. A crise inicialmente girava em torno de uma usina de energia a carvão e acabou se estendendo à extração de bauxita, destacando o papel crítico da energia acessível na refinação de alumínio.  Do ponto de vista metodológico, o estudo utiliza um quadro descritivo de estudo de caso, somado a conceitos de teoria das negociações, para explorar a dinâmica do impacto da DC nas barganhas. O poder de influência e os interesses dos principais atores, incluindo a JISCO (Jinquan Iron and Steel Company), o governo jamaicano e a Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), são dissecados. Em última análise, o artigo destaca a influência das práticas de DC nas negociações, desviando o foco para as preocupações ambientais e destacando a importância da tomada de decisões informadas em negociações internacionais. A JET desempenhou um papel fundamental ao iluminar os riscos ambientais e influenciar a redefinição das dinâmicas de poder nas negociações. Assim, este trabalho exemplifica como a DC pode remodelar negociações e promover soluções sustentáveis para desafios globais complexos.

Abstract: This paper analyses legislative behavior in foreign policy issues in six Latin-American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay and Peru. The following paper offers an empirical contribution to understand legislative voting in international affairs. The hypothesis of the specificity of foreign policy influencing a unified legislative behavior, contrasted with a highly polarized domestic arena, is tested. To develop this test we estimate Latina-American legislator’s ideal points in foreign policy issues, comparing ours results with studies that examine legislative behavior in domestic issues. The conclusions suggest similarity between legislative behaviors in both arenas, indicating as main explanatory factors of legislative voting in foreign policy political party’s ideology and the legislative coalition of legislator’s political party.

Resumen: Este artículo analiza el comportamiento legislativo en temas de política exterior en seis países latinoamericanos: Argentina, Brasil, Chile, México, Paraguay y Perú. El siguiente trabajo ofrece una contribución empírica para comprender cómo votan los legisladores de la región en las temáticas internacionales. Se comprueba la hipótesis sobre la especificidad de la política exterior al producir un comportamiento legislativo unificado en plenario, contrastando con una acentuada polarización en el ámbito doméstico. Para poner a prueba tal supuesto, se estiman puntos ideales de los legisladores latinoamericanos en temas de política exterior, comparándolos con estudios de la literatura que examinan el comportamiento legislativo en la política doméstica. Las conclusiones apuntan a una semejanza entre el comportamiento legislativo en ambas temáticas, indicando como principales factores explicativos del voto en la política exterior la ideología partidista y la pertenencia o no del legislador a la coalición de gobierno.

Resumo O presente trabalho tem como objetivo analisar perfis sociais e padrões de carreira do corpo diplomático brasileiro, tendo como parâmetro de comparação e referência o artigo de Zairo B. Cheibub (1989). Em relação aos perfis, notam-se o aumento médio da idade de ingresso, mudança dos nascidos no Rio de Janeiro para São Paulo, sutil alteração em gênero e raça, crescente entrada de formados pela Universidade de São Paulo e a Universidade de Brasília, e a liderança relativa dos bacharéis em direito. Para os padrões na carreira se comparam os tempos de promoção médios à elite diplomática (segundos ministros e embaixadores) entre as categorias sociais e demais variáveis institucionais. Apenas as últimas se destacam e o tempo médio de promoção aumenta, em ambas as hierarquias, para aqueles que possuem mais de uma passagem por postos diplomáticos de classes B e C. Já os segundos ministros que foram nomeados para cargos de confiança (DAS) sugerem ter seus tempos de promoção à elite, em média, diminuídos. Ambas as parcelas do trabalho apontam que as manutenções do perfil e dos padrões de carreira superam as mudanças no MRE.

Abstract This work seeks to analyze the social profiles and career patterns of the Brazilian diplomatic corps, using Zairo B. Cheibub (1989) as a parameter and reference. In terms of profiles, there has been an increase in the age at which people enter this career, an increase in the proportion of those born in São Paulo as compared to Rio de Janeiro, subtle alterations in terms of gender and race, an increase in graduates from the University of São Paulo and the University of Brasília, and a preponderance of those with undergraduate law degrees. Looking at career patterns, we compare the average time for promotions to the diplomatic elite (second ministers and ambassadors) in terms of social categories and other institutional variables. Only the latter stands out and the average promotion time has increased in both hierarchies for those who have spent more than on stint in Class B and C diplomatic posts. On the other hand, for second ministers who have been named to political positions the promotion time has diminished. Both social profiles and career patterns point more to continuity rather than change in terms of profiles and patterns in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Resumen El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo analizar perfiles y patrones de la carrera del cuerpo diplomático brasileño, teniendo como parámetro de comparación y referencia el artículo de Zairo B. Cheibub (1989). En relación a los perfiles, se observa un aumento promedio de la edad de ingreso, el cambio de origen de nacimiento desde Rio de Janeiro a São Paulo, un sutil incremento de mujeres y afrodescendientes, la crecente entrada de los formados por la Universidad de São Paulo y la Universidad de Brasília, y el liderazgo relativo de los bachilleratos en derecho. Para los patrones en la carrera, se comparan los tiempos de promoción promedios a la elite diplomática (segundos ministros y embajadores) entre las categorías sociales y demás variables institucionales. Solamente las últimas se destacan y el tempo promedio de promoción aumenta, en ambas las jerarquías, para aquellos que poseen más de un pasaje por puestos diplomáticos de clases B y C. Los segundos ministros que han sido nombrados en cargos de confianza (DAS) sugieren tener sus tiempos de promoción a la elite, en promedio, disminuidos. Las dos partes del trabajo apuntan para que las manutenciones superan los cambios en el MRE.

Os plásticos apresentam boa processabilidade, oferecendo uma grande liberdade de design. Porém, a fabricação de peças cada vez maiores e mais complexas tem exigido a busca por melhorias e desenvolvimento dos atuais processos de união e soldagem de polímeros. Friction Spot Welding (FSpW) é uma técnica de soldagem pontual por fricção inicialmente desenvolvida para ligas de alumínio, possibilitando soldas com excelentes propriedades mecânicas. Nesse trabalho a soldagem de termoplásticos através da técnica FSpW foi analisada. Para tal, utilizaram-se placas de polimetacrilato de metila (PMMA), um termoplástico amorfo com crescente importância na indústria automotiva e aeronáutica por seu bom balanço de propriedades, como baixa densidade, boa processabilidade, soldabilidade e resistência química e ao envelhecimento. As amostras soldadas foram analisadas por microscopia ótica, medições de microdureza Vickers e ensaio de resistência ao cisalhamento. Os resultados mostraram que a resistência mecânica ao cisalhamento alcançada (cerca de 9,5 MPa) é igual ou maior que a resistência de juntas sobrepostas de PMMA obtidas por outras técnicas convencionais como soldagem por ultra-som, por microondas e thermal bonding. O presente trabalho comprovou, dessa forma, a potencialidade da técnica FSpW para soldar termoplásticos.

The modern thermoplastics show a wide range of engineering applications, mainly due to its good processability and properties, such as stress-to-weight ratio and toughness. However, the manufacturing of larger products with complex geometries require advanced polymer welding techniques. Friction Spot Welding (FSpW) is a joining technique allowing the fabrication of joint with good mechanical properties. In this work, the feasibility of the FSpW of thermoplastics was investigated in polymethyl-methacrilate (PMMA), an amorphous thermoplastic with increasing importance in the airspace and automotive industry due to its good processability, weldability, aging and chemical resistance. The welded samples were analyzed by optical microscopy and Vickers microhardness measurements and mechanically tested. Lap-shear testing showed ultimate shear resistance values of about 9,5 MPa, which were similar or higher than values obtained through current PMMA welding techniques, such as microwave welding, ultrasonic welding and thermal bonding. Therefore, the present work was able to demonstrate the potential of FSpW as an alternative welding process for thermoplastics.

What does it take to make a coalition successful? Bigger coalitions are more likely to be successful because the GATT/WTO is a consensus-based institution and countries are informally penalized if they isolate themselves. Through a Bayesian statistical analysis, the article corroborates the above hypothesis. To further investigate the research question, qualitative case studies of the G-10 in the Uruguay Round and the Public Health Coalition in the Doha Round are conducted. These cases show that the more convincing the framing of a position, the better are the chances of coalitions keeping a large number of followers and supporters, thereby affecting their odds of success. By building a unique database and applying a new research design to the topic, the study rigorously tests theories about coalitions that had previously only been proposed but not empirically analyzed.

The influence of political parties on decisions made by members of Congress is a hotly debated issue in political science. In foreign policy, which is usually considered nonpartisan, the matter is even more inconclusive. The current study analyzes all the roll-call votes taken on foreign policy issues in the 2002-2006 legislature of the Chilean Chamber of Deputies. After tracing a spatial map of foreign policy preferences among Chilean Deputies using the Nominate statistical package, we concluded that the ideology of the legislator's political party is a predictive factor for his or her foreign policy behavior. Our findings indicate that the way Chilean legislators structure their preferences on foreign policy issues does not differ significantly from the way they shape their domestic policy preferences.

L'influence des partis politiques dans les décisions des parlementaires est un thème très discuté dans les sciences politiques. Quant à la politique extérieure, couramment considérée comme étant au-dessus des partis, la question reste plus ouverte. Dans cette recherche, on examine toutes les séances de votes nominaux sur des sujets de politique extérieure de la Législature 2002-2006 de la Chambre des Députés chiliens. Après avoir établi une carte des préférences des députés chiliens en matière de politique extérieure et à l'aide du programme statistique Nominate, on conclut que l'idéologie du parti politique du législateur est un facteur prédictif de la conduite du législateur en politique extérieure. Nos résultats montrent que la façon dont les législateurs chiliens établissent leurs préférences dans les thèmes de politique extérieure ne diffère pas significativement de la façon dont ils forment leurs préférences dans la politique interne.

The aim of this article is to discuss the distribution of preferences of members of the Chilean and Argentinian Congress on foreign policy issues through the analysis of roll call votes. This goal is guided by the debate in Latin American literature concerning the decision-making process in foreign policy. The predominant argument focuses on the Executive as the principal decision-maker, disregarding the Legislative as relevant in this field. Thus, legislators would tend to abdicate from their preferences in determining foreign policy. Confronting this argument, we have many studies emphasising the importance of domestic actors in the foreign policy decision-making process. This article proposes to analyse two case studies in comparative perspective: the lower houses of the national parliaments of Argentina and Chile. The result is that the party ideology is a relevant explanatory factor of deputies’ votes. Although the argument is more evident for the Chilean case, it is possible to argue that there is a similar pattern to the structuring of deputies’ votes in the two countries, both on the domestic and on the international arena. The methodology used makes it possible to infer legislators’ preferences by means of roll call votes and of the construction of maps of deputies’ ideal points in foreign policy terms, as well as the correlation between Chilean and Argentinian parties’ ideological classifications. Votes on foreign policy questions during the 2002-2006/2007 legislatures are considered.

The aim of this article is to discuss the distribution of preferences of members of the Chilean and Argentinian Congress on foreign policy issues through the analysis of roll call votes. This goal is guided by the debate in Latin American literature concerning the decision-making process in foreign policy. The predominant argument focuses on the Executive as the principal decision-maker, disregarding the Legislative as relevant in this field. Thus, legislators would tend to abdicate from their preferences in determining foreign policy. Confronting this argument, we have many studies emphasising the importance of domestic actors in the foreign policy decision-making process. This article proposes to analyse two case studies in comparative perspective: the lower houses of the national parliaments of Argentina and Chile. The result is that the party ideology is a relevant explanatory factor of deputies' votes. Although the argument is more evident for the Chilean case, it is possible to argue that there is a similar pattern to the structuring of deputies' votes in the two countries, both on the domestic and on the international arena. The methodology used makes it possible to infer legislators' preferences by means of roll call votes and of the construction of maps of deputies' ideal points in foreign policy terms, as well as the correlation between Chilean and Argentinian parties' ideological classifications. Votes on foreign policy questions during the 2002-2006/2007 legislatures are considered.

Este artigo busca analisar as razões motivadoras da parceria no jogo das negociações comerciais multilaterais. O objetivo é contribuir para a compreensão mais ampla sobre as bases (doméstica e internacional) do processo de constituição de coalizões internacionais, ou parcerias, de tipo Sul-Sul no novo contexto da agenda multilateral. Tal processo tem ocupado papel central na dinâmica das negociações multilaterais e regionais de comércio, particularmente no que tange às perspectivas do reequilíbrio de forças centro-periferia do sistema internacional. A reabertura de uma nova rodada de negociações multilaterais no âmbito da Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC), com foco justamente nos novos desafios temáticos sobre comércio internacional e caminhos para o desenvolvimento, reintroduz a centralidade do papel das coalizões e alianças de tipo Sul-Sul. Este artigo analisa a convergência e divergência de interesses comerciais entre Brasil, Índia e África do Sul, dentro do quadro de interesses político-estratégicos mais amplos, mostrando que os aspectos meramente comerciais não dão conta de explicar os tipos de alinhamentos produzidos no interior da arena multilateral de comércio.

This article seeks to analyze the reasons that stimulate the multilateral trade negotiations. The purpose is going to contribute for the comprehension about the basis (domestic and international) in the constitution of international coalitions, in the new context of the multilateral agenda. The international coalitions constitution trial has occupied central paper in the dynamic one of the multilateral and regional negotiations, in particular in what plays to the perspectives of the balance of forces center-periphery of the international system. The new thematic challenges about international trade and development introduce new studies about the international coalitions and alliances on the South level. This article analyzes the convergence and divergence of commercial interests between Brazil, India and Africa of the South, inside the chart of broader political-strategic interests, showing that the merely commercial aspects do not give to count of explain the kinds of alignments that are produced in the interior of the arena multilateral of commerce.

O empresariado brasileiro envolveu-se em um notável processo de organização e mobilização política na década de 1990. Essa ação desdobrou-se em diferentes áreas, tanto na esfera doméstica, com a campanha pela redução do custo Brasil, quanto na esfera internacional, com a criação da Coalizão Empresarial Brasileira. Esse resultado decorreu da confluência de um processo de natureza econômica, que erigiu a competitividade em meta prioritária das empresas, e um processo de natureza política, com a atuação de lideranças que ajudaram a deflagrar e a sustentar a ação coletiva. A iniciativa para a ação coletiva partiu exatamente de onde menos esperavam os expoentes da tese da debilidade política do empresariado brasileiro: a Confederação Nacional da Indústria, uma entidade setorial de cúpula do sistema corporativista. Este artigo, portanto, desafia, simultaneamente, duas afirmações centrais que estão presentes em parte significativa da literatura contemporânea: primeiro, a idéia de que o empresariado brasileiro é incapaz de ação coletiva; segundo, a idéia de que o corporativismo é a causa principal dessa incapacidade.

The Brazilian business community became involved in a noteworthy process of organization and political mobilization throughout the 1990’s. Its action branched out into different areas, both in the domestic sphere, with the campaign for the reduction of the Brazil cost; and in the international sphere, with the creation of the Brazilian Business Coalition. This result stemmed from the confluence of a process of economic nature, which set up competitiveness to the level of a top-priority goal for the firms; and a process of political nature, with the performance of political entrepreneurs that helped to start off and to sustain the collective action. The initiative for collective action originated from where the exponents of the theory of political weakness of the Brazilian business community least expected it to: the National Confederation of Industry, a peak association of the corporatist system of representation of industrial interests. This article, therefore, simultaneously challenges two central statements that are present in a significant part of the literature: first, the idea that the Brazilian business community is incapable of collective action; second, the idea that corporatism is the primary cause of this incapacity.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar o posicionamento do governo do Partido dos Trabalhadores diante das negociações da Área de Livre Comércio das Américas (Alca). Procura-se mostrar que, entre a campanha eleitoral e a participação efetiva nas negociações, a postura do partido sofreu mudanças graças aos constrangimentos inerentes ao processo negociador. Além disso, o texto tenta analisar potenciais incentivos positivos da adesão e negativos da não-adesão do Brasil à Alca. Incentivos esses pouco explorados no debate sobre a política comercial brasileira.

The main purpose of this article is to analyse the position of Brazil's Work Party about the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTTA). The paper intend to show that the party's position changed between elections run and the beginning of negotiation process because constraints of the process. The paper intend also to foster comprehension toward incentives, positives and negatives, about the Brazilian decision take of the FTAA. Incentives, by the way, little focused in Brazil's debate about this theme.

O objetivo deste artigo é analisar a evolução de um regime hemisférico de segurança tendo em vista duas questões fundamentais: o impacto do Mercosul no equilíbrio geopolítico continental e o papel do Brasil como ator-chave na conformação deste arranjo hemisférico de segurança. Nossa hipótese é de que, tanto na dimensão regional, quanto global, o Brasil tem atuado no sentido de contrabalançar a hegemonia norte-americana, reforçando a correlação entre o status de potência regional e o cálculo de opções internacionais.

The main purpose of this article is to analyse the evolution of a hemispheric regime of security using two basic issues: the impact of Mercosur in the regional geopolitical balance and the role of Brazil as a key-actor in the establishment of this agenda for regional security. Our hypothesis is that Brazil, as much in the regional, as in the global dimension, has acted so as to counterbalance the United States hegemony, strengthening the correlation between the status of regional power and the calculus of international options.