XVII Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association

From the conservative military thought to the genesis of the brazilian National Security Doctrine

• In Event: Revisiting the Brazilian Civil-Military Dictatorship I

Abstract

The paper aims to analyze the theoretical origins of the National Security Doctrine, an ideology that served as the basis for the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985). The contributions of key authors of republican authoritarian thought, such as Oliveira Vianna, Alberto Torres and Azevedo do Amaral, were analyzed. In addition, to deepen the discussion, the contributions of Cold War anti-communism to the development of the dictatorial doctrine were examined. Finally, securitist doctrine itself was examined to exemplify the bridges between past thoughts and how this subjectivism was used by military sectors to sustain and justify their policies of exception. The bibliographic survey with reference authors of the theme under discussion was the methodology chosen for this production. It is important to note that the link between conservative military thought and the National Security Doctrine is a certain distrust of liberal institutions, skepticism in the capacity of political elites and the distrust in the masses capacity for choosing rulers. This line of thought ended up serving as the basis for justifying and legitimizing the dictatorial regimes that marked Brazilian republican history, these being the Estado Novo (1937-1945) and the military dictatorship (1964-1985).

Author

• Luan Piovani, State University of Campinas