Editorial The 2026 Elections and its main impacts for the Brazilian Foreign Policy: an Introduction | Editorial As Eleições 2026 e seus possíveis impactos para a Política Externa Brasileira: uma Introdução

Abstract

In 2026, Brazilian foreign policy (BFP) is likely to reach one of the highest levels of electoral salience in the country's history. Alongside topics mobilized in previous elections, such as China, the BRICS and Venezuela, comes the dispute over the tariffs imposed on Brazil by the Trump administration, which turned a trade agenda into a terrain for the political attribution of responsibility. In this context, presidents, legislators and voters have expressed increasingly intense preferences on BFP. Given the relevance of the subject, this section presents Special Contributions devoted to debating the possible impacts of the 2026 elections on this policy. Drawing on debates that began at a roundtable held during the 15th Meeting of the Brazilian Political Science Association (2026), the section brings together four articles. Pedro Feliú Ribeiro shows how Brazil's international engagement shifts in election years; Janina Onuki and Rodrigo Lyra trace the links between foreign policy and science and technology in the government platforms presented between 2010 and 2022; Ivan Fernandes discusses how the political costs of foreign policy decisions have become increasingly visible to key decision-makers; and Vinicius Santos simulates the effects of different compositions of the Federal Senate on the legislative mechanisms of interference in BFP. Taken together, the articles point to an asymmetry worth examining closely in the years ahead: foreign policy does not yet decide elections in Brazil, but it is influenced by their outcomes and increasingly defines political costs and incentives for all those involved.