What the US can learn from Brazil

In Latin America, the role of standing strong against U.S. policies has often been associated with Venezuela for the last decade or so.

However, in recent months, Brazil has assumed this mantle, refusing to support the United States’ campaign for the U.N. to apply further sanctions against Iran, and just this week threatening trade sanctions of its own on the U.S. in response to its cotton subsidy program.

As much as the inner-American in me wants to say that the U.S. is in the right, I must admit that these moves by Brazil have merit.

Brazil argues that because of its warmer ties with Iran, it would be better they use their relationship to persuade Iran to maintain a peaceful nuclear program, rather than slap another round of sanctions on them.

According to the BBC, Brazilian President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva suggested, “It is not prudent to push Iran against a wall. The prudent thing is to establish negotiations.”

President Lula makes a good point.

Where have sanctions gotten us with countries like North Korea?

If sanctions are ineffectual, we should allow Brazil to try its hand at negotiations.

This strategy could also prevent the possibility of Iran developing the “us against them” mentality, as Iran will likely be more comfortable engaging in talks with Brazil.

I am a firm believer in the idea that diplomacy must evolve over time. In centuries past, war was the main medium through which countries would achieve their goals and desires. Perhaps during our lifetime, the
utilization of allies in negotiations with states often seen as too radical to be reasoned with will take the place of the sanction reflex as the most prevalent tool of diplomacy.

On the subject of cotton subsidization, I cannot ignore the contradictorily attitude of the U.S. in regards to free trade. The U.S. has pushed for a world engaged in free trade, yet we still allow powerful lobbyists to prevent us from breaking down barriers to free trade within our own country.

Now, we find ourselves on the receiving end of trade sanctions because of these protectionist policies. This is the problem with protectionism. It can lead to many countries putting up tariffs and quotas on goods in retaliation, making everyone worse off.

As countries like Brazil grow in power, the U.S. must get used to such criticism and barriers to policy implementation, especially if Brazil someday achieves its goals of becoming a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council with veto power.

The U.S. must now have greater awareness of how other countries will receive its policy recommendations and choose policies wisely to make certain it will get sufficient backing. This could be a new era of diplomacy in which the U.S. must contend with rising powers, and its approach to this new system will determine how important its role will be in the future of international politics.

Christopher Long is a management and Spanish double major.