Pride and the politics of international defiance: Brazil, the United States, and UN General Assembly Resolution 3379

John de Bhal

Third World Quarterly, 2025, vol. 46, issue 3, 335-352

Abstract: In 1975, Brazil voted in favour of a UN Resolution in the Third Committee of the General Assembly that condemned Zionism as a form of racism. The initial domestic backlash to this decision saw Brazilian President Ernesto Geisel recognise this vote as a ‘mistake’. Geisel was thus intent on Brazil abstaining from voting on the motion once it reached the UN General Assembly Plenary Session a few weeks later. Ultimately, however, Brazil would end up voting in favour of the Resolution in the General Assembly Plenary. Why? Leveraging research on emotions in International Rel­ations, I argue that a US diplomatic cable that instructed the Brazilian delegation to vote against the Resolution was perceived as an insult to Brazilian pride and honour. To correct the perceived offence and in a bid to ensure similar violations of these values did not happen again, Brazil defied the United States and voted in favour of the Resolution. The paper highlights how affective factors can make certain forms of hegemonic ordering self-defeating via a case study with clear analogies to today.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2025.2471561

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