ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the mechanisms for translating Brazilian economic potential into international influence at the regional and global levels. It deals with presentation of a conceptual scheme for understanding international influence. The chapter examines the linkages among economic development, internal security, regional hegemony, and world power status from the viewpoint of Brazilian strategists. It considers the regional impact of Brazilian frontier settlement. The chapter explores two of Brazil's major bases of global influence, as a repository of natural resources and an outlet for investment capital. The bases of economic power consist of area and location, natural resources, population, and gross national product. In Brazil, the best agricultural land is confined to the Atlantic littoral and Paulista plateau, while the best hydroelectric potential is thousands of miles from the centers of population and industry, in the Amazon and Parana River basins. On sheer economic weight, Brazil might hope for the international status of middle powers like Canada or Italy.
