Brazil Foreign Policy

Brazil
Foreign Policy

Table of Contents
Location and climate 1
Climate and physical features 2
Demographic profile of population and government 3
Major allies, economic partners, leaders 4
Natural resources, interests, strengths, and weaknesses 5
Social, political problems, foreign policy 6

Brazil is located on the east-central coast of the South America, Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth-largest in the world, ranking after Russia, Canada, China and the U.S. Brazil occupies nearly half of the South American continent, it covers an area of 3,286,488 square miles, extending 2,731 miles from the Northern to Southern most point, and 2,684 miles from the East to West. Brazil touches all South American countries except for Ecuador and Chile, Brazil is confined on the North by Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana, on the North-East, East , and South-East is the Atlantic Ocean, on the South is Uruguay, on the South-West is Argentina and Paraguay, on the West is Bolivia and Peru, and on the North-West is Colombia. Brazil’s total boundary length is 9,108 miles. Brazil is divided into 26 states and one federal district. The only impact Brazil has on America’s national security is when the United States in particular was worried that Brazil might use technology from its space-launch vehicle program to produce ballistic missiles in the 1960s. However, by the early 1990s, Brazil renounced all interest in nuclear weapons and curtailed its ballistic missile program after transitioning to a civilian government and ending a nuclear and missile rivalry with neighbor Argentina. Brazil and the United States have good relations politically and are trade partners.
This is Brazil’s climate within its country. The climate of Brazil varies considerably mostly from tropical north to temperate zones below the Tropic of Capricorn. Temperatures below the equator are high, averaging above 77 °F, but not reaching the summer extremes of up to 104 °F in the temperate zones. There are frosts south of the Tropic of Capricorn and during the winter which ranges from June–September, and in some years there is snowfall on the high plateau and mountainous areas of some regions. Snow falls in the mountains of the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina, and Paraná. Rio de Janeiro, Recife, and Salvador on the coast have warm climates, with average temperatures of each month ranging from 73 to 81 °F. The cities of São Paulo, Curitiba, Florianópolis and Porto Alegre have a subtropical climate similar to that of southern United States, and temperatures can fall below freezing in winter. Precipitation levels vary widely
There is a broad contrast that exists between the nation 's two main physical features: the densely forested lowlands of the Amazon Basin in the north and the generally open uplands of the Brazilian Highlands to the south. The climate is generally tropical, but areas located at higher elevations or farther from the equator tend to be more temperate. Vegetation varies from rain forests to pine forests to savannas and semiarid vegetation. The forests are a rich source of timber, and the country sustains a diverse agriculture. The birthrate in Brazil was 1.81 births per woman in the year 2011. The life expectancy in Brazil was 73.62 years per person in 2012. The chart on the left shows Brazil’s educational levels in millions. The median income in the nation is 7,000 BRL, when changed into U.S. dollars, it is $3175.32. Brazilians religious orientation is Christianity. This has been the main religion in the past and still continues today. To the left is the population density in terms of millions of people, the darker the shade, the more people live in that area. Brazil’s military has 328,000 active frontline personnel and 1,800,000 active reserve personnel. Brazil’s annual GDP is $2.523 trillion total and $12,528 per capita.

Brazil is governed under their 1988 constitution. The president, is elected by popular vote for a four-year term and may serve two terms. The president is both head of state and head of government. There is a bicameral legislature consisting of an upper Federal Senate and a lower Chamber of Deputies. The 81 senators are elected for eight years and the 513 deputies are elected for four years. The president may intervene in state affairs. Administratively, the country is divided into 26 states and one federal district; each state has its own governor and legislature. The main political parties are the Brazilian Democratic Movement party, the Liberal Front party, the Democratic Labor party, the Brazilian Social Democracy party, and the Workers party.
Brazil has good diplomatic relations with many countries including every United Nations member, and Palestine. Brazil is a founding member of the United Nations and participates in all of its specialized agencies by participating in 33 U.N. peacekeeping missions and contributed with over 27,000 soldiers. Brazil trades 16.12% of total exports with the United States, while receiving 17.2 of total imports from the U.S. China sends 12.61% and the get 12% to China. Brazil sends 8.77% to Argentina and gets 8.5%. Brazil trades 7.65% with Germany and 4.3& with Japan. Many nations complain about Brazil because it can take three times longer to import or export goods to Brazil than most other countries. Brazil’s total trade volume was $387.4 billion in USD.
The president of Brazil is Dilma Vana Rousseff. She is the 36th president and the first woman to hold the office. Rousseff was raised in an upper middle class household in Belo Horizonte. She became a socialist and joined the various left wing and Marxist urban guerrilla groups that fought the military dictatorship. She was then captured and jailed in 1970-1972 where she was tortured. After being released, she rebuilt her life with Carlos Araújo, her partner for 30 years. She later founded the Democratic Labour Party. She became the Secretary of the Treasury of the city of Porto Alegre and later the Secretary of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. In 2000 she left the PDT and joined the Worker’s Party. After helping Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, she was invited to become Minister of Energy. She then took over the post of Chief of Staff, after a corruption scandal forced the resignation of José Dirceu. She then stepped down to run for President, which she won.
Brazil’s natural resources are bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, rare earth elements, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, and timber. With Brazil’s climate, Brazil is able to grow and export coffee, sugar, soy beans, textiles and electrical equipment. There have been recent discoveries of oil sources that could potentially hold more than 9 billion barrels of oil is helping to confirm Brazil as a major new oil exploration frontier. Green fuels, such as bio-diesel and ethanol made from sugar cane, is a growing industry where Brazil is expected to become a major leader in world markets.
Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America and the 6th largest in the world. Brazil has a problem in its economy in that there is a high cost of living, poor public services, and the greed and corruption of its politicians. Many American companies have investments in Brazil. These companies include 21st Century Fox, Bank of America, Chevron, Caterpillar, Citi, the Coca Cola Company, Dell, DHL, Fedex, Exon Mobil, GE, GM, IBM, HP, John Deere, Mary Kay, and Nike, Motorola, Visa, and many more companies. The economy’s weaknesses are that there are high business costs, a weary consumer, tight labor markets, and the president’s economic management.
The strengths are that the economy is supposed to boom in the future, there are stable government finances, there are more normal interest rates and currency, the industry is turning around. The social problems in Brazil is the increasing number of those in poverty. The poorest 34% of the population receive less than 1.2% of the nation’s income, while the richest 10% receive 42.7%. Many of the poor in the country live in makeshift houses cramped together, Crime in Brazil is huge, there are 23.8 homicides per 100,000 residents, muggings, robberies, kidnapping, and gang violence are common. Police brutality, and corruption are widespread. Rapid urbanization and population growth have caused many problems in developing cities.
Our nation should continue trading with Brazil since they have so many natural resources and are so abundant in those. Our nations should stay on good terms and keep peace since they are a big part of the United Nations, as America is as well. These two nations both face trade deficits already, seeing more imports than exports. America needs to find a way to export more than it imports, and this can be done by expanding trade with Brazil since they will become a global superpower in the coming years, as seen by leading economists of the world. The nation of Brazil has much to offer in regard to resources and military power. By reaching a better trade agreement with Brazil they will become powerful allies to have in the future, instead of enemies. I feel that this nation will not only benefit, but will help restore America to its former glory of having the best economy in the world, rivaled by none, but instead we are constantly in fear of China catching up to us. Brazil will be a major cushion, they will ensure that our economy will not fail, as we ensure the same with them. With the World Cup being held in their nation and the future Summer Olympics as well, the nation will get some major pay days ahead. It is our job to invest in the nation while others are not really trying to. We need to sweep in while we have no competition and keep this nation strong supporters of America and us of it. There is no way that this nation is bad nation to trade with in the future. A trade agreement we could make with them could be on the subject of the deficits by increasing both exports from each country and creating a sort of continental trade agreement with the South and North Americas combining and forming a huge trade community. This will involve nations like Canada, Mexico, Chile, Ecuador, and Jamaica to name a few. This expands our horizons as well as the other nations around us. When other nations succeed in their economy, we will do the same, like a domino theory, but for good, and not communism.

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