In a multilateral world unfolded after 9/11 terrorist attacks, the United States have lost their preeminence over the international agenda. The turmoiled incursion in Iraq and the virulent domestic crisis were reasons for questioning North American dominance. In that scenario, emerging countries for instance Brazil and Russia gained leverage, which have exposed a changing global arrangement. These two states, notoriously known for their continental territories and enormous populations, were depicted as developing markets with geopolitical substance. Nevertheless, they do not have enough power to change by themselves the agenda; in reason of that, they need to cooperate to assure that their common demands will be part of the current order.
When President Lula came into office, he asserted that Russia was one of the pillars of Brazil’s foreign policy. He portrayed the bilateral contact as strategic and affirmed that the partnership should be intensified and the complementary features deepened. Russia matches Brazil’s interest to become more respected because it has important credentials. Besides being a permanent member of the United Nation’s Security Council and having the capability to craft the nuclear bomb, Russia has advanced technology, a well-known science expertise and impressive hydrocarbon reserves that could be compared to Brazil’s pre-salt layer.
The recent oil discoveries along the Brazilian coastline represent a great opportunity for the two countries to cooperate on energy and to widen collaboration between their state-owned companies, Brazil’s Petrobras and Russia’s Gazprom. Moreover, Brazil’s macroeconomic stability and proficiency in biofuels and in ethanol production attract the attention of Russia. The Brazilian influence in Latin America and its positive contacts with the peripheral world, for example with the African Union, are also other triumphs perceived by Russia. Mr. Medvedev, who came to Brazil in 2009, has also noticed that the partnership should be broadened.
South-south cooperation is the relations’ core and the two states usually combine opinions in multilateral affairs. They are classified by some scholars as system affecting countries, needing to merge in order to achieve their objectives. That happened when Brazil and Russia joined China and India in the BRIC group, aiming to gain greater political bargain, and when the subprime crisis affected the economy. The two countries, coping with other emerging actors, pressed the more powerful economies for market regulation and to an even distribution of International Monetary Fund’s quotas.
It is imperative that Brazil and Russia improve their bilateral relations to grant a more important role in a complex world. Both countries have valuable appeals that can be shared and deepened in order to permit them a paramount position in the actual scenario. Common interests and an effective alteration in the international agenda can be assured by an organized approach in multilateral talks.
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