Brazil as a Regional Power and Its Relations with the United States

Since the mid-nineteenth century, Brazil’s interests have conflicted with those of the great industrial powers. Its alignment with the United States in the first half of the twentieth century reflected its dependence on coffee exports and the North American market, and even then it did not always passively accept U.S. predominance. An inevitable consequence of Brazil’s ambition to win its rightfully prominent place in the international structure of power has led to a withering away of that unwritten alliance over the past quarter of a century. Brazil has steadily improved its ties with other South American countries in an effort to expand its room for maneuver and increase its bargaining power. While the current administration has pursued friendly relations with the United States, divergences between the two countries remain. In particular, along with other South American countries, Brazil has serious economic and political concerns that run counter to the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas.