This political choice, however, cannot neglect the complexity of threats from the PostCold War period and uncertainties in the medium and long-term horizon. The country has been preparing for such realities since the National Defense Policy reformulation, in 2005, and the publication of the National Defense Strategy, in 2008, both revised in 2012. In South America, there has been a clear trend towards cooperation. This trend has been (UNASUL) and, especially, its Council of Defense (CDS). A “Security Community”10, is blooming in South America, due to common historical experiences shared by neighbor countries, similar development challenges and democratic government systems, which enable mutual understanding and foster a peaceful accommodation of the different national interests. In sum, the Brazilian National Defense policy unites cooperative and dissuasive components. International crises may occur against the country’s will, and this demands an adequate level of readiness and modernization of the Armed Forces. In a global level, Brazil must have a capacity for defense that corresponds to its economic, political and strategic stature, in order to have its resources preserved, its voice heard, its position respected and its peaceful tradition safeguarded. Strategic Environment In the current composition of international centers of power, elements of unipolarity, such as the dominant military force in North America, coexist with elements of bipolarity, such as the economic interdependence between the United States of America and China, and of multipolarity, such as the financial G-20, the commercial G-20, the BRICS group, the IBAS Forum and the BASIC group11, among others. New and traditional global governance structures are coexisting. In this context new political 10 Concept presented by Karl W. Deutsch, at the end of the 50’s decade, in his classic work Political Community and the North Atlantic Area — International Organization in the Light of Historical Experience. According to Deutsch, a security community would rise from the relationships among states within the same region, as war would become an unthinkable solution to disputes among its members. Financial G-20 — Group composed of: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom and United States of America, which form the G-8, and also Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, European Union, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey. Commercial G-20 — Group composed of 23 countries from 3 continents: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Egypt, Ecuador, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Paraguay, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zimbabwe; BRICS — Group formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa; IBAS — Group formed by India, Brazil and South Africa; BASIC — Group composed by Brazil, India, China and South Africa; Further detail on the creation and objectives of these groups may be found in the Glossary. 11 DEFENSE WHITE PAPER 33 CHAPTER 2 — THE 21st CENTURY STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT constantly strengthened since the establishment of the South American Nations Union