Seeking strategic narrative alignment: the case of BRICS and Brazil on the issue of infrastructural development

Abstract This article explores the challenges of multilateral forums to form coherent ‘strategic narratives’ that align positively with foreign policy narratives of member states in a multi-stakeholder society. Specifically, it focuses on whether and how BRICS’s communication on the issue of infrast...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Carolijn van Noort
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instituto Brasileiro de Relações Internacionais
Series:Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-73292019000100210&lng=en&tlng=en
Description
Summary:Abstract This article explores the challenges of multilateral forums to form coherent ‘strategic narratives’ that align positively with foreign policy narratives of member states in a multi-stakeholder society. Specifically, it focuses on whether and how BRICS’s communication on the issue of infrastructural development is strategically aligned with Brazil’s foreign policy narrative towards Africa. The case study involves interview data from 2016 with non-state actors in Brazil. This empirical case highlights how narrative misalignment on the national and multilateral level results from a high degree of ambiguity in the narratives, their problematic relation to actual events, and faulty practices of ‘inclusive’ participation.
ISSN:1983-3121