Alex Melchiore

September 9, 2016
Dr. Tait Chirenje
Brazil: The Troubled Rise of a Global Power Reflection
Chapter 12: Global Ambitions and Frustrations
As Brazil began to climb the capitalistic ladder, naturally it looked to expand its reaches
to the rest of the world to gain respect from other world leaders and become a well-respected
global power. Following the socio-economic crash of 2008, the United States and all of their
allies became weakened after the failures in Iraq. This was Brazils opportunity to invest in
foreign policy. Brazil sure hit the ground running with a new backbone and was through waiting
for someone else to design a foreign policy with this growing nation. This got Brazil instant
recognition and this allowed them to form an alliance with some of the most economically
advanced countries in the world: Russia, India, and China. This alliance would become known as
the BRIC countries. Brazil became bolder in some of the big meetings with the other strong
nations especially on the issues of Irans nuclear program taking unjustly advancements. This
was the first time that Brazil noticeably made a crucial decision to vote against the resolution
(which was against the majority) (Reid 239-241).
Still in the infant stages of their foreign political endeavors, policymakers were confident
in their foreign futures due to their continental scale and vast array of resources to offer. Though
at times overconfident, they did have much luck attaching to themselves one of the most
professional diplomatic services which added to their value (Reid 242).
Brazil has had a long history of supplying and helping out the more powerful and
developed nations, including the U.S. Their first act of good faith came in 1898 during the
Spanish-American War, where they became the only Latin American country to aid the U.S in

their efforts against the Spanish. This continued in the two world wars where Brazil would end
up declaring war on the Allied forces. These efforts to gain recognition unfortunately came up
empty and did not give Brazil a seat on the Security Council founded by the United Nations
(Reid 242-246).
This lack of recognition would soon change once dictatorship took hold. Though
unconventional in the eyes of the rest of the world, the dictatorship rapidly began to build up
their arms in an attempt to be recognized for their growing power. Brazil also began to objectify
U.S tariffs on sugar, orange juice, and steel (Reid 249).
Brazil itself has long been a third party nation, not one to intervene in foreign affairs.
This has worked in their favor because they have not been in a war with any of the surrounding
countries in over 140 years. Though this did not aid them in getting much attention as a powerful
nation since it made them be seen as more of a following nation rather than a leading nation.
Although this notion was subject to change as Brazil became a rising economic power and no
longer had to rely on bail-outs from bigger countries. Leaders like Cardoso and Lula allowed
Brazil to obtain a much larger role in the world. Even with this new found power and
recognition, Brazil was still viewed as the gentle giant in the eyes of the strong countries.
Brazilian leaders had long put off the visiting of other surrounding countries due to the many
reforms the government went through. Argentina and Brazil had both been ruled by dictatorships
and were very wary of each other. It was not until democracy had set in that both nations that
alliances were formed (Reid 252-256).
With this new backbone, Brazil quickly began having a mind of his own. The foreign
policymakers began to think independently of the other stronger nations and distrust the policies
of them. They never have stood against these other countries such as the U.S, Russia, or China

but have definitely disagreed on a few key issues. For instance, Brazil has grown tired of the
half-hearted regional leadership of the U.S which has rubbed them the wrong way. Brazils role
as a neutral natured ally has definitely made it turn away from some of the other powerful
countries. Overall globalization for Brazil has been more beneficial to the nation rather than
harmful (Reid 260-262).

Source

Reid, M. (2014). Brazil: The troubled rise of a global power.