Leiden University Student Repository

Heijstek, Esmee (2016)

Health diplomacy as a soft power strategy or ethical duty?

Master thesis | International Relations (MA)

Since the end of the 20th century, Brazil has emerged as a global power in the international community. It expanded its regional and global influence in its own way. To achieve its foreign policy goals, Brazil employs a strategy which can be traced back to 1907 and which has been used increasingly in the 21st century: health diplomacy. This thesis analyses how health diplomacy is incorporated in foreign policies of the Brazilian government in the 21st century. Moreover, it analyses how the Brazilian government uses health diplomacy by embedding the concepts of soft power and cosmopolitanism. The analysis assesses South-South Cooperation and four health issues: controlling tobacco consumption, fighting HIV/AIDS, fighting tuberculosis and preventing dengue. The goal of this analysis is to demonstrate how the Brazilian government uses health diplomacy as a foreign policy instrument to achieve its main goal: to become and be recognized as a global player.

Brazil

Health Diplomacy

Soft Power

Cosmopolitanism

Foreign Policy

Author

Heijstek, Esmee

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

International studies

Supervisors

Wiesebron, Marianne

ECTS Credits

10

Language

en