Columbia International Affairs Online
CIAO DATE: 4/5/2008
The Strategic Triad: Form and Content in Brazil’s Triangular Cooperation Practices
November 2007
The New School Graduate Program in International Affairs
Abstract
Triangular cooperation, in which two countries form a partnership to lend technical assistance to a third country, is a growing model of technical cooperation in the developing world. Why do developing countries participate in triangular cooperation, and how are these arrangements different from bilateral and multilateral linkages? An analysis of Brazilian triangular cooperation arrangements reveals that, in addition to offering pragmatic solutions, triangular cooperation is a tactic for national self-promotion within a broader strategy of foreign relations. The spread of triangular cooperation marks a shift in both the configuration and politics of international cooperation networks.
