Brazil: Geopolitical Challenges in a Multipolar World: Introduction

Brazil ́s geopolitical and diplomatic “rise” has been heralded by many commentators in the last few years. A member of important new groupings of states including the expanded G20, IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa), BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) in its own region, Brazil has also been a prominent voice in global negotiations over and initiatives involving trade, climate change, sustainable development, global public health, internet governance, peacekeeping, and international security. Brazil ́s enhanced protagonism in global governance has generated a substantial number of new, insightful analyses. Nevertheless, because of the complexity and changing nature of the topic, answers to important questions about it remain either under-explored or contested.
This special issue of Rising Powers Quarterly is dedicated to exploring some of those questions. Reflecting the ongoing work of a group of scholars that also produced a special section of International Affairs, the seven articles that follow offer compelling analysis of at least three important aspects of Brazil ́s global trajectory and foreign policy.
The first issue is Brazil ́s recent rise in international prominence and influence. How substantial was that rise? What factors facilitated this emergence? Has Brazil ́s rise stalled and, if so, why? And is the alleged decline temporary or more long-term?