Brazil and the United States

Paper Summary:

The paper explains that the international policies of these two nations are sometimes at cross-purposes. The paper describes how national governments walk a fine line between cooperation and provocation, as they seek to fulfill these different policy goals. The paper explores Brazilian-American foreign relations that have been dominated by arguments over the effectiveness of a free trade regime. The paper points out that free trade has largely been pushed by the United States; they see the elimination of trade barriers and the opening up of markets as essential to the perpetuation of economic growth. Brazil, however, has made significant attempts to prevent further American economic encroachment that has not offered any real benefits to the Brazilian people.

From the Paper:

"NAFTA, and other less comprehensive American free trade policies of the past, have done precious little to help ordinary citizens in the nations involved. As a result of this agreement, the wages of Mexican workers have not risen, and jobs have bled at an alarming rate across America's southern border. American corporations have often profited immensely, but the enrichment of a handful of already wealthy Americans was certainly not the goal developing nations had in mind when they began to talk free trade. Though Brazil's economy has expanded considerably in past decades, and standards of living have risen proportionately - measured by the United Nations Human Development Index, Brazil actually surpassed Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey in 1998."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Baer, Werner. The Brazilian Economy : Growth and Development /. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2001. Ciccantell, Paul. "NAFTA and the Reconstruction of U.S. Hegemony: The Raw Materials Foundations of Economic Competitiveness." Canadian Journal of Sociology 26.1 (2001): 57. Hirst, Monica. The United States and Brazil: A Long Road of Unmet Expectations. New York: Routledge, 2004. Ribeiro, Edgard Telles. "Brazil and the Fight for Development: Edgard Telles Ribeiro Backgrounds Brazil's Approach to Foreign Policy." New Zealand International Review 26.6 (2001): 12+.
• Ciccantell, Paul. "NAFTA and the Reconstruction of U.S. Hegemony: The Raw Materials Foundations of Economic Competitiveness." Canadian Journal of Sociology 26.1 (2001): 57.
• Hirst, Monica. The United States and Brazil: A Long Road of Unmet Expectations. New York: Routledge, 2004.
• Ribeiro, Edgard Telles. "Brazil and the Fight for Development: Edgard Telles Ribeiro Backgrounds Brazil's Approach to Foreign Policy." New Zealand International Review 26.6 (2001): 12+.

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