The national defense strategy: reflection on the role of society in building national defense

Abstract

The National Defense Strategy (END), presented to the Brazilian society in December 2008, is the fundamental legal framework for reflections and actions on national defense, which should be conducted by the Brazilian society. This paper aims to present an analysis of the National Strategy of Defense in the midst of discussing the role and the responsibility of citizens, together with the institutions of the Brazilian State and the Armed Forces, in the improvement of the National Defense due to modern conflicts and diffuse threats, where terrorism is the most terrible feature. In this scenario surrounded by conflict and difficult reconciliation of differences and interests between states and societies, the theme of National Defense emerge as a fundamental premise of ensuring the sovereignty of the Brazilian state as well as the maintenance of peace, within the territorial and extraterritorial limits. The reflection this study intends to present is how the National Defense Strategy can contribute to the construction of a national  awareness toward national defense, understood as the defense of interests of the nation and the Brazilian people. As a result, it seeks to analyze the main concepts and arguments supported by the National Defense Strategy in relation to Brazilian society as a whole, arguing that its participation and the establishment of a broad dialogue between public and private Brazilian institutions is essential in the production and dissemination of the necessary body of knowledge for the involvement of the society in achieving the strategic actions of National Defense.