Comércio exterior e defesa das rotas aquaviárias do século XIX até os dias atuais

Abstract

The work aimed to demonstrate how the evolution of naval power took place in relation to the importance of foreign trade and how Brazil, China and India increased their investments in defense to protect this source of resources. The evolution of naval power stood out with the beginning of the great navigation that demanded some improvements in the boats to be possible to discover other continents. This process was the beginning of the period of discoveries and the increase in foreign trade. The navigation growing and the clash between civilizations caused several conflicts such as both world wars that unbalanced the naval power, showing their importance to the sovereignty and defense of national interests. Initially Great Britain and later the United States of America were the main global players to prove this. The increase in the importance of foreign trade for the economy was reflected in the importance of defense investments by countries that, with focus on 20th century and in Brazil, China and India, demonstrates that this process has occurred in an increasing and quite similar way until the mid-1990s when China entered in a process of superior economic growth. The method to demonstrate the evolution of maritime power in that period was a comparison between those three countries, based on a comparison of the importance of foreign trade and investments in defense of each one. It was obtained as a result that the three countries evolved, in all aspects approached, in a very similar way, except for the referred period in which Chinese economic growth stood out and Brazilian investments in defense were compatible with their economic situation and with the importance of foreign trade for its economy.