Emerging Brazil: The Challenges of Liberal Peace and Global Governance

Brazil has clustered with other emerging powers to advocate a reconfiguration of the international order based upon a more inclusive multilateral architecture. Brazilian foreign policy has also defended a cautious use of coercive methods and military intervention. To pursue these aims Brazil has adopted a double-track course of action: (1) intergovernmental emerging power coalitions, which strengthen the coordination of political stances and concerns in multilateral arenas; and (2) enhanced involvement and responsibility in UN-led peace operations, accompanied by a robust portfolio of bilateral and multilateral accords with developing countries. These two tracks are addressed in this article as fertile sources for the accumulation of soft power assets. It is argued, however, that it will not be easy for Brazil to expand its voice and weight in global governance bodies in the years to come as the global scenario becomes muddier in the management of conflict, intervention and severe institutional crisis. Th...