Cultural Heritage as Soft Power: Brazil in International Politics

This chapter aims to present a historical perspective of Brazilian diplomacy in its attempt to conquer a prominent role on the international scene. Using imagery references from Brazil, there is no denying that the Zé Carioca complex is still present in the international imagination. Cordial par excellence, bon vivant, lover of a hearty table, good music, football trickery and carnival animation, the figure of the Brazilian, when the subject is international politics, becomes, more and more, also correlated to an image of seriousness in dealing with important issues for the contemporary world agenda. Thus, the country has sought equitable and peaceful development, through representatives who defend, as an action strategy, the importance of considering the multiculturalism existing among nations and the need to create bases for dialogue that take this diversity into account, cultural and heritage. To this end, the Itamaraty has been betting on a strategy to promote Brazilian culture abroad since 1930, as a mechanism for promoting soft power, which we call, in this case, cultural diplomacy, which has the prospect of expansion through policies of repatriation and restitution of cultural goods as a long-term agenda of the state.