Key recent publications
Book – Climate Obstruction: A Global Assessment:
Edited by: J. Timmons Roberts, Carlos R. S. Milani, Jennifer Jacquet and Christian Downie
Publisher: Oxford University Press (2025)
Bringing together more than 100 climate obstruction experts from around the world, Climate Obstruction: A Global Assessment systematically addresses the complex, organised, and well-funded set of actors who have actively opposed political efforts to address climate change. Offering an unprecedented assessment of global climate obstruction, this volume deepens our understanding of efforts to delay or block climate change policies, pointing to potential actions to resist obstruction.
Article – Climate obstruction in Brazil under the Bolsonaro administration: building empirical and conceptual blocks:
Authors: Carlos R. S. Milani, Janaína B. Pinto and Arthur Vargas Facini
Published in: Climate and Development, 1–14
This paper presents a preliminary cartography of Brazilian organizations and leadership supporting climate change denial, delay, and obstruction politics. To do so, it presents a context-led typology of climate obstruction actors based on (i) a series of twenty in-depth interviews with pro-climate leaders, scholars and civil society actors; and (ii) a critical review of secondary data on climate denial and obstruction in Brazil, including existing research, legislative changes, congressional voting trends, and content published by traditional and social media sources.
Article – The Climate Emergency versus the Right to Development: Where do Brazil-China Relations Stand?:
Author: Carlos R. S. Milani
Published in: Carta Internacional v. 19 (2024), p. 1-24, journal of the Brazilian Association of International Relations (ABRI)
In this paper, my main argument is that a critical understanding of Brazil-China relations challenges Brazil’s government to redefine new paths for its own transition towards more sustainable development policies, on the one hand, and for both Brazil and China to integrate climate-related criteria in their strategic partnership, on the other hand..
Article – Anti Democratic Politics and Regional Powers’ Multilateral Foreign Policies: Comparing Brazil and Türkiye:
Authors: Carlos R. S. Milani and Rubens de S. Duarte
Published in: Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (RBPI online), v. 67, p. 1-19, 2024.
This paper explores how the world crisis currently affecting liberalism and democracy has impacted Brazil’s and Türkiye’s foreign policy in three multilateral issue areas: security, human rights, and climate change. Assuming that a country’s foreign policy echoes the interplay between international and domestic dynamics, it considers two cases of similar escalation of antidemocratic domestic politics – the Bolsonaro administration (2019-2022) and Erdogan’s first mandate as Türkiye’s president under presidentialism (2018-2023).
Carlos R. S. Milani 