Brazilian National Defence Policy: foreign policy, national security, economic growth, and technological innovation

With the world’s ninth largest economy and comprising nearly 60% of South America’s GDP, 47% of its territory, and 49% of its population, Brazil has become a regional power and an important actor in world affairs over recent decades. This scenario has led the government to re-evaluate its role in the world order, resulting in the enactment of the National Defence Policy, whose objective was to consolidate the country as a regional power while at the same time addressing national security issues, promoting economic development through a series of defence programmes, restructuring the defence industrial base, fostering innovation through technology and knowledge transfer to Brazil, and indigenous research and development. However, the policy’s implementation suffers from several challenges discussed in this article, which may test the capability and competence of Brazilian policymakers, military, industrialists, and other individuals and organisations involved in its implementation

Brazilian National Defence Policy: Foreign Policy, National Security, Economic Growth, And Technological Innovation

With the world’s ninth largest economy and comprising nearly 60% of South America’s GDP, 47% of its territory, and 49% of its population, Brazil has become a regional power and an important actor in world affairs over recent decades. This scenario has led the government to re-evaluate its role in the world order, resulting in the enactment of the National Defence Policy, whose objective was to consolidate the country as a regional power while at the same time addressing national security issues, promoting economic development through a series of defence programmes, restructuring the defence industrial base, fostering innovation through technology and knowledge transfer to Brazil, and indigenous research and development. However, the policy’s implementation suffers from several challenges discussed in this article, which may test the capability and competence of Brazilian policymakers, military, industrialists, and other individuals and organisations involved in its implementation

The main project complexity factors and their interdependencies in defence projects

This research identifies 18 main project complexity factors affecting defence projects and four new factors to the literature. Many interdependencies among the factors were identified, suggesting they form a contextualised project complexity network capable of creating emerging behaviours that would not be observable if they were analysed in isolation. These interdependencies make the project adapt and self-organise, resulting in emergent behaviour and unintended consequences beyond the team's ability to cope with them. These characteristics challenge the classic view of project management based on objectivity, reductionism, control, and predictability in favour of new approaches based on subjectivity, systemic thinking, and adaptability. Moreover, the lower the team's delivery capacity, the greater the perception of the project complexity's effects, given that the project team will not have the capacity to manage and respond to these many interactions and elements. This systemic view contrast with the usual functionalist approach used on project complexity frameworks