On November 6, the Reimagining World Order Colloquium hosted "Subordinate Disobedience in Hierarchical International Orders: Evidence from U.S.-Brazil relations" with John De Bhal, postdoctoral research associate. 
 

In his talk, De Bhal considered why Brazil deliberately defied the United States over the question of Zionism in the UN General Assembly in 1975. The case shows how subjective, affectively laden values — like pride, dignity and honor — can push junior partners in hierarchical orders to defy their superordinates. The argument has direct relevance to today as the U.S. struggles to cultivate compliance amongst its partners on thorny issues like the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.