Since 1988, Brazilians have cleared more than 153,000 square miles of Amazonian rain forest, devastating the environment and driving global climate change forward ever faster. Recently, however, Brazil has changed its course, reducing the rate of deforestation by 83 percent since 2004. At the same time, it has become a test case for a controversial international climate-change prevention strategy that places a monetary value on the carbon stored in forests.
Over the past several years, the most talked-about trend in the global economy has been the so-called rise of the rest, which saw the economies of many developing countries swiftly converging with those of their more developed peers.
Authors: Shannon K. O'Neil, Richard Lapper, Larry Rohter, Ronaldo Lemos, and Ruchir Sharma
Brazil's rise never depended on the sale of commodities, and thanks to recent reforms, the country will continue to prosper, write Shannon O'Neil, Richard Lapper, and Larry Rohter. Ronaldo Lemos, meanwhile, claims that those reforms have not gone far enough.
Brazil's rapid economic growth has transformed the country into a new global heavyweight, but Brazil must not let an overly ambitious foreign policy agenda distract it from lingering domestic challenges.
The so-called BRIC summit of emerging-market powerhouses raises new questions on whether Brazil, Russia, India, and China can overcome internal differences and pursue common goals.
Leader of the world’s ethanol industry, Brazil is brokering cooperation agreements from India to sub-Saharan Africa. But the outlook for an international biofuels market remains uncertain.
A new U.S.-Brazilian deal aims to boost ethanol production, but analysts say it’s just one of many steps needed if America is to meet its goal of “energy independence.”
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva surges to victory in a runoff vote, overcoming a series of corruption scandals that raised concerns about his ability to govern.
Brazil is one of the world's top emerging markets. But recent outbreaks of gang violence in its largest city have drawn attention to the country's social inequality and rising urban crime rates, raising questions about the sustainability of Brazil's growth just before October's elections.
Stewart M. Patrick says Brazil's recent involvement in tensions between Iran and the United States underscored Brazil's determination to play on the global stage, but it may also have harmed Brazil's chances for a UN Security Council seat.
Walter Russell Mead says that Brazil's recent involvement in the diplomatic dispute between Iran and the United States reveals the United States' need to identify ways to help Brazil reach its potential and help advance important American interests in Latin America.
Walter Russell Mead says that Turkey and Brazil's rejection of UN sanctions against Iran revealed that neither country had mastered the challenges of operating in the international system.
The Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program—CFR's "think tank"—is home to more than seventy full-time, adjunct, and visiting scholars and practitioners (called "fellows"). Their expertise covers the world's major regions as well as the critical issues shaping today's global agenda. Download the printable CFR Experts Guide.
The author analyzes the potentially serious consequences, both at home and abroad, of a lightly overseen drone program and makes recommendations for improving its governance.
