The New Brazil

The New Brazil tells the story of South America's largest country as it has evolved from a remote Portuguese colony into a regional leader, a respected representative for the developing world, and, increasingly, an 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 more and more 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 examines the many challenges it has overcome and those that lie ahead. He discusses the country's development as a colony, empire, and republic; the making of modern Brazil, beginning with the rise to power of Getulio Vargas; the advent of the military government in 1964; the return to civilian rule two decades later; and the pivotal presidencies of Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Luiz Inacio (Lula) da Silva, leading to the nation's current status in world affairs as one of the BRIC countries.

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 a player on the world stage, Brazil is here to stay.

"In part the [country's] success is due to external factors such as the high demand for Brazilian exports, particularly in China and the rest of Asia. But it also reflects sophisticated policy choices, including inflation targeting and maintenance of an autonomous central bank."

Riordan Roett is Sarita and Don Johnston Professor at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, where he directs the Western Hemisphere Studies and Latin American Studies programs. Widely acclaimed for his contributions to Latin American studies, he has received the Order of Rio Branco from the government of Brazil with the rank of Commander and the Order of Bernardo O'Higgins from the government of Chile with the rank of "Gran Official." Roett is the author or editor of twenty-two books, including China's Expansion into the Western Hemisphere (Brookings, 2008) and Post-Stabilization Politics in Latin America (Brookings, 2003). His textbook Brazil: Politics in a Patrimonial Society is now in its fifth edition.