Call for papers to Brazilian academic journal
“World Tensions”
Special edition: «The Defense of the South Atlantic»
The academic journal World Tensions, B2 biannual publication, edited by the research network Observatory of Nationalities (Observatório das Nacionalidades), from Ceará State University (UECE), is receiving, up until June the 30th.,2016 articles and reviews that relate to the topic of defense and security in the South Atlantic.
The South Atlantic waters bordering Brazil, neighboring countries and the African republics, are an important shipping route and global trade area, holding immense natural resources, especially oil and fishing resources. Its domain is the subject of dispute between the major powers, particularly fierce in the arms race during the Cold War.
In 1986, the UN approved the formation of the South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone (ZOPACAS). Although recognized by the international community as a valuable mechanism in providing a reference in the promotion of democratic values, social and economic development and environmental protection, this initiative has not stopped attacks on the sovereignty of the South Atlantic nations. This can be noted by the Falklands War; overfishing, particularly in the Gulf of Guinea; pollution caused by the oil spill and discharge of radioactive material and nuclear waste in the ocean; increasing insecurity in areas such as the Niger Delta, the Gulf of Benin and Cabinda; Mali’s invasion by the French Army; and the announcement of the deployment of US troops to 36 African countries, under the pretext of fighting terrorism. So far, the efforts to build a South-South alliance have been sparse and discontinuous.
The creation of AFRICOM (US Africa Command) in 2007, and the reactivation of the US Fourth Fleet a year later, under the pretext of ensuring security and combating terrorism, raise suspicions in African and South American governments about interventionist pretensions of these military instruments, that are ready to inhibit the processes of regional integration.
This thematic issue of World Tensions aims to deepen the reflection on both, diplomatic as well as military initiatives by Brazil and its South Atlantic neighbors to the development of common protection policies to their natural resources. The interdependency, increasingly higher, between countries and international institutions, mainly coming from the North hemisphere, constitute a systematic violation of the sovereignty of nations the aforementioned nations.
this scenario proves an increasing geopolitical importance of the South Atlantic in the current context of global tensions, and it is expected to stimulate academic debate within the Sociology, Political Science, International Relations and other related fields of knowledge, on the urgent need to develop a strategic reflection on defense from the countries involved in this circumstance.
Three approach modalities will be particularly valued:
a) Those dealing with conceptual or theoretical issues of national defense, international security, peace zones and extra-regional cooperation;
b) Those debating episodes, narratives, specific cases or circumstances on conflicts of various kinds in the South Atlantic countries, seeking to understand the environmental and socio-political dimensions;
c) Those bringing comparative studies that analyze similarities and differences in how the issue is addressed, conceptual or empirical, in Brazil and other countries located in the South Atlantic.
The Publication:
World Tensions is an academic journal indexed in at least a dozen databanks, Brazilian and foreign, amongst which are:
– Latindex (www.latindex.unam.mx);
– Summaries of Brazilian Journals (http://www.sumarios.org/);
– Free Portal (http://livre.cnen.gov.br/
– Australian Research Council – ARC (http://www.arc.gov.au/);
– H- Nationalism (http://www.h-net.org/~
Recently, the magazine had its Qualis Capes grade increased to B2 in Sociology, the same grade it keeps in Political Science and International Relations.
The papers must be original and can be submitted in Portuguese, Spanish or English, with fully electronic submission procedure, performed in the journal’s website: www.tensoesmundiais.net
It will only be accepted for consideration those works which are in accordance with the editorial guidelines, available at the link:
Works written in co-authorship with advisors will be accepted, provided that one of the authors complete the requirements presented in this call.