A Brazil Perspective on Rio+20
All eyes are on Brazil this week as more than 130 world leaders and some 50,000 activists, civil society representatives and business leaders are attending the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, known as Rio+20, in Rio de Janeiro. The conference marks 20 years since the Earth Summit in 1992 concluded, when leaders—optimistic about a post-Cold … Read more
Dilma Rousseff’s U.S. Visit: What’s Next?
President Dilma Rousseff joined Barack Obama at the White House yesterday with the cool confidence of a pragmatic leader whose country has earned a first-of-its-kind esteem with its northern neighbor. The Brazilian president arrived for her first state visit to the United States with a strong hand of cards to play. Brazil casually edged out … Read more
Dilma’s Education Dilemma
More than anything, Brazil’s continued economic growth depends on a well-educated workforce. While Brazil is one of the three fastest-improving countries in terms of student test scores among the 65 countries that take part in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests, educational reform is still a top priority. Despite the advances, Brazil suffers … Read more
The Opportunities and Challenges for President Dilma Rousseff
Gradually and firmly over the past 15 years, Brazil has consolidated a stable democracy, broken free from macroeconomic instability, and taken remarkable steps toward alleviating poverty and reducing a historically high level of income inequality. The country that welcomed Dilma Rousseff as its new president on January 1 is also the country that will host … Read more
One Foot in the Region; Eyes on the Global Prize
Read any Brazilian foreign policy college textbook and you will be surprised. Global order since 1945 is not described as open, inclusive or rooted in multilateralism. Instead, you learn that big powers impose their will on the weak through force and rules that are strict and often arbitrary. In this world view, international institutions bend … Read more
Brazil-China: What’s Next After Rousseff’s Visit?
Matías Spektor has a feature article in the Spring 2011 issue of Americas Quarterly titled “One Foot in the Region; Eyes on the Global Prize.” It can be accessed here. President Dilma Rousseff’s five-day trip to China in mid-April yielded modest but palpable progress in a trade relationship that is now Brazil’s most important and … Read more
Obama’s Moment to Get It Right in Latin America
Amidst nuclear meltdown in Japan, growing pressures to respond to the carnage in Libya and the specter of a possible U.S. government shutdown, flitting rumors have circulated that the visit of President Barack Obama to three Latin American countries may be cancelled or postponed. This would be a major setback in U.S. relations with the … Read more
