The New Brazil: From Backwater to BRIC

Description

The New Brazil tells the story of that nation's evolution from a remote Portuguese colony into a regional leader, a respected spokesman for the developing world, and an increasingly important partner for the United States and the European Union. For much of the twentieth century, Brazil seemed mired in perpetual economic crisis. Today prudent fiscal and monetary policies have yielded high levels of foreign direct investment and an investment-grade rating for its debt. Brazil is also emerging as an energy powerhouse, and policymakers are increasingly confronting the challenge of reducing poverty among tens of millions of people. In this engaging book, Riordan Roett traces the long road Brazil has traveled to reach its present status and discusses the many challenges it has overcome and those that lie ahead. Roett, a veteran scholar and writer on Brazil, discusses the country's development as a colony, empire, and finally a republic; the making of modern Brazil, beginning with the rise to power of Getulio Vargas in 1930; the advent of military government in 1964; the return to civilian rule two decades later; and the pivotal presidencies of Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Luis Inacio Lula da Silva. As Brazil prepares to elect a new president in October 2010, much remains to be done to consolidate and expand the country's global role. Nonetheless, as an important player on the world stage, Brazil is here to stay.