Brazil: To Be or Not to Be a BRIC?

Brazil will gain a place as a significant player in the mul-tipolar international system taking shape since the end of the cold war simply on the basis of its economic size and material capabilities. However, its potential to influence international outcomes is likely to be determined more by the capacity of the country’s elites to identify and harness qualitative assets associated with its stable and democratic governance than by any hard-power assets. Brazil is the quintessential soft-power BRIC. Among the four BRICs, Brazil is the only one posi-tioned to become a potential environmental power in a world increasingly preoccupied with global warming.