Logistical standardization and strategic integration: Brazil in the NATO Codification System

This article aims to analyze how logistical standardization through the NATO Codification System (NCS) contributes to Brazil’s strategic insertion into international defense networks without entailing formal commitments to collective defense. The research adopts a case study approach, based on Yin (2009), combining documentary analysis of official and bibliographic sources with surveys administered to civilian and military subject-matter experts (SMEs) from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member and partner countries. The results indicate that the the adoption of the NCS strengthens Brazil’s logistical interoperability and the defense technological and industrial base (DTIB) and expands access to markets regulated by Western standards, and enhances regional industrial integration, while also imposing limits on geopolitical repositioning vis-à-vis competing powers. It concludes that technical logistical cooperation serves as a pragmatic tool for modernization and international certification, preserving Brazil’s strategic autonomy and producing long-term impacts on both industry and regional security governance.