In the world of the twenty-first century, wars among Nation-States will not be probably usual, since the existence of nuclear weapons, the growing international cooperation and the forces of globalization help to difficult it. Nevertheless, it will not be a Kantian world in which trading and international laws completely overcome the possibilities of conflict and the use of force - real or symbolic - in relations among States.

In this context, the four States that make up the BRIC group are, at least potentially, the big news of the moment in geopolitical terms, although its rise is probably overestimated. The four States (Brazil, Russia, India and China) have some common goals regarding the global balance of power, but there are deep differences among them in terms of their broader goals in the world as well as the strategies and tools to achieve them. It ist is clear that each State identifies its strengths and weaknesses and seeks to adapt them to the new reality of the century, in economic, political and military terms.

This paper explores the latter topic, making a comparison between the strategies of defense and geopolitical insertion of the four States that make up the BRICS, having been excluded the South African case just because of their recent insertion in the group, subsequent to this research.

In general, it appears that the States concerned agree that a strengthening of their military Power and capabilities is essential for their integration and to occupy better places of power into the international hierarchy of the twenty-first century, but with different emphases. Brazil, with the advantages that its geography gives and following its pacific traditions, evaluates the world of the future as more peaceful and less confrontational . Thus, the Brazilian government does not favor the use of force as a means to project its Power, which is reflected in the Brazil´s National Defense Strategy, much more defensive and less assertive.. China, India and Russia, in different gradations, evaluate the international scenario in a more realistic and less idealistic way and adapted their National Defense Strategy to meet it.

This paper (A Estratégia Nacional de Defesa do Brasil e a dos outros BRICs em perspectiva comparada) intends to compare and discuss these similarities and differences of perspective in order to identify the real potential for collaboration (and its limits) among Beijing, Brasilia, Moscow and New Delhi. The topic of the relationship of each State with the hegemonic power, the United States, will be particularly stressed

Leia o artigo:

BERTONHA, João Fábio. A Estratégia Nacional de Defesa do Brasil e a dos outros BRICs em perspectiva comparada. Rev. bras. polít. int. [online]. 2013, vol.56, n.2 [cited 2014-02-25], pp. 112-130 . Available from: <http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-73292013000200007&lng=en&nrm=iso&gt;. ISSN 0034-7329. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-73292013000200007.