ABSTRACT
Brazil is one of the most important countries emerging on the world scene, and the Third World country most likely to become a significant political and economic global power. Brazil’s 1981 gross national product of about $220 billion was 8th largest in the Western world and 10th largest worldwide. Brazil’s foreign policy has traditionally been highly pragmatic, and its new economic power permits Brazil to pursue its own interests with even less regard to the opinions of its traditional ally, the United States. Brazilian leaders view their country’s recent rapid economic development as providing a solid foundation for a world role in the 1980s and 1990s. The expansion of Brazil’s international role depends on continued economic growth. Brazil’s importance in the world is, in large part, the result of its spectacular economic growth since World War II, particularly between 1968 and 1980.
