Publications
about me
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BOOKS
Kissinger e o Brasil
This book draws on primary sources to detail Henry Kissinger’s policy of devolution to key emerging countries from the postcolonial world as it applied to Brazil. By looking at the politics of US recognition of Brazil as a regional power and the implications of such measure for the strategic environment of South America and the domestic politics of Brazil, the book teases out the problems of strategic interaction that recur whenever two states in a hierarchical relationship set out to achieve diplomatic alignment.
18 Dias: quando Lula e FHC se uniram para conquistar o apoio de Bush
This is the story of how seating president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, president elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and the Bush Administration in 2002 worked behind the scenes to smooth the first transition to a Leftwing government in Brazil. Drawing on a vast array of secret documents and in-depth interviews in both countries, this book focuses on the relationship between domestic politics, diplomatic communication, and strategic interaction in US-Brazil relations.
10 Desafios da Política Externa Brasileira
This book introduces ten foreign policy problems that plague Brazilian society, hampering its development, compromising its position in the world and retarding the long process of economic modernization with social justice that the country requires. The publication is therefore composed of ten chapters that present, in policy paper format, important reflections on these current dilemmas. The book aims to contribute to the construction of a positive and pragmatic international agenda for Brazil.
Azeredo da Silveira: um depoimento
This is an edited transcript of a long oral-history interview with Azeredo da Silveira, one of Brazil’s most prominent diplomats and strategists of the last century. Silveira was foreign minister at the height of dictatorial rule (1974-1979), but also held key positions as a career diplomat. In this volume he speaks in detail about key episodes such as relations with Henry Kissinger, regional rivalry with Argentina, ties with Communist movements in Africa, the negotiations leading up to the Non Proliferation Treaty, the onset and failure of the North-South Dialogue, and the strategic rationale that fueled Brazil’s most sustained effort at improving its position in the global pecking order.
The Origins of Nuclear Cooperation: a critical oral history between Argentina and Brasil Edited with Nicholas Wheeler and Rodrigo Mallea
This e-book presents the long transcript of a three-day critical oral history interview involving the statesmen from Argentina and Brazil who averted a security dilemma and nuclear competition in the early 1980s, as the two states acquired uranium-enrichment capabilities. In the transcript readers will find a first-hand account of the strategies, misperceptions, near misses, intelligence glitches, and signals they deployed to avoid escalation and build an unprecedented system for nuclear confidence building in its stead. Readers will also find a compilation of key secret official documents pertaining to that period.
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ARTICLES, WORKING PAPERS AND BOOK CHAPTERS
"Nuclear Revolution and Hegemonic Hierarchies: how global Hiroshima played out in South America". In: Michael D. Gordin & G. John Ikenberry (Eds). The Age of Hiroshima. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. 2020. p. 164-178. Matias Spektor. pdf
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“República na era da Globalização”. In: Lilia Moritz Schwarcz & Heloisa Murgel Starling (Eds). Dicionário da República: 51 textos críticos. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras. 2019.
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“Brazil: When Political Oligarchies Limit Polarization but Fuel Populism”. In: Thomas Carothers & Andrew O'Donohue (Eds). Democracies Divided: The Global Challenge of Political Polarization. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2019, p. 228-254.
Matias Spektor & Umberto Mignozzetti.
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"Diplomacia da Ruptura". In: Democracia em risco? 22 ensaios sobre o Brasil hoje. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras. 2019, p. 228-254. Matias Spektor. pdf
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19. Matias Spektor. pdf
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"Brazil: Shadows of the Past and Contested Ambitions". In: William I. Hitchcock, Melvyn P. Leffler, Jeffrey W. Legro (eds.). Shaper Nations: Strategies for a Changing World. Harvard University Press. 2016. p. 17-35. Matias Spektor. pdf
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"O projeto autonomista na política externa brasileira". In: Aristides Monteiro Neto. (Org.). Política Externa, Espaço e Desenvolvimento. 1ed. Brasília: Ipea, 2014, v. 3, p. 19-60. Matias Spektor. pdf
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"Brazilian assessment of the end of Cold War". 2011. In: Artemy M. Kalinovsky and Sergey Radchenko (eds.). The end of the Cold War in the Thirld World: new perspectives on regional conflict. New York: Routledge. 2011. p. 229-244, Matias Spektor. pdf
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"Obama and Brazil". In: Abraham F. Lowenthal, Theodore J. Piccone and Laurence Whitehead (eds.). Shifting the Balance: Obama and the Americas. Brookings Institution Press. 2011. p. 43-53. Matias Spektor. pdf
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"Brazil: The underlying ideas of regional policies". In: Daniel Flemes (ed.). Regional Leadership in the Global System: Ideas, Interests and Strategies of Regional Powers. New York: Routledge. 2010. Chapter 9. Matias Spektor. pdf
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"Ideias de ativismo regional: a transformação das leituras brasileiras da região". 2010. Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional. 53/1: 25-44. Matias Spektor.​ pdf
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"O Brasil e a Argentina entre a cordialidade oficial e o projeto de integração (1967-1979)". 2002. Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional. 45/1: 117-145 . Matias Spektor. pdf
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"A abertura do Acervo Azeredo da Silveira". 2001. Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional. 44/2: 186-189. Matias Spektor. pdf
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POLICY AND OPINION
Here's the link to seven years of my foreign column at Folha de S. Paulo, Brazil's leading daily newspaper.
Bolsonaro will regret baiting China the Chinese Tiger, The Financial Times (December 2018). Matias Spektor.
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Si no logra los cambios prometidos, la ola también se lo tragará, La Nacion (October 2018). Matias Spektor.
It's Not Just the Right That's Voting for Bolsonaro. It's Everyone, Foreign Policy (October 2018). Matias Spektor.
How Brazil's Operation Car Wash Is Threatened by Politicans, Foreign Affairs (May 2018). Matias Spektor.
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Prospects for Safeguarding Brazil's Naval Nucelar Propulsion Program Issue Brief. Federation of American Scientists. August 2017. Matias Spektor.
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How to Fix Brazil: Breaking an Addiction to Bad Government, Foreign Affairs (September / October,2016): 102-110. Matias Spektor and Eduardo Mello.
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AQ Top 5 Corruption Busters: Sérgio Moro, Americas Quarterly (October 2016). Matias Spektor.
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Five Goals for Brazil's New Foreign Policy, Americas Quarterly (October 2016). Matias Spektor.
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A política externa de tucanos e petistas, Folha de São Paulo, Ilustríssima (Outubro de 2015). Matias Spektor.
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The State of Brazil's South American Project. Inter-American Dialogue, Working Paper, June 2014: 1-11. Matias Spektor.
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