I.H.T.

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

An American in Brazil

By JULIA E. SWEIG
Published: March 2, 2010

In her campaign for the presidency, Hilary Rodham Clinton barely

uttered the word Brazil. But as secretary of state, Mrs. Clinton has
recognized Brazil as the most powerful country in South America
and a rising global power. Her current visit may reflect a political
will to make the relationship with Brazil a strategic priority for
American foreign policy.

Mrs. Clinton understands that the United States must adapt to a

multipolar world, working with powers such as China, Russia and
India. Yet in 2009 U.S. diplomacy with Brazil fell victim to disputes
over Honduras, military bases in Colombia, domestic politics and
tensions over Iran.

With such a late start, urgency seems to permeate the visit. The
United States is losing ground as Latin America creates yet another
regional organization that excludes it. Likewise, Brazil’s attention
will soon turn inward as its presidential campaign kicks in.

But showing up in Brazil might be the easiest step. The United States
has little bandwidth to sustain a focus on Brazil. President Obama’s
domestic agenda is consumed by jobs, healthcare, infrastructure and
financial solvency. Abroad, the lion’s share of attention will remain
on Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and China.

Brazil, too, may lack the incentive to invest in the U.S. relationship
as much as Mrs. Clinton may wish. Also focused largely on
conditions at home, Brazil has survived the global financial crisis,
built a growing middle class, reduced poverty and inequality and
consolidated democracy. Corruption, crime, violence and drugs now
rank highest on the electorate’s agenda.

Internationally, the last seven years have catapulted Brazil onto the
global stage. The United States represents only a slice of Brazil’s
global agenda: Brazil’s emphasis on multipolarity and
multilateralism assumes the decline of U.S. influence.

In any case, given its historic insistence on autonomy from great

powers, Brazil can hardly be expected to subordinate its interests to
those of the United States. Nonetheless, some Americans see Brazil’s
ethos of autonomy in foreign policy at times as a deliberate attempt
to thwart U.S. diplomacy. Such misperceptions might get in the way
of good intentions.

Another potential impediment: The United States still acts like an

imperial power. When Hillary Clinton says “partnership,” Brazilians
may think she really means deference to U.S. interests. To tackle
problems on the bilateral, regional and global agenda, Mrs. Clinton
will have to overcome Brasilia’s skepticism about Washington’s
commitment to a real give-and-take.

Brazil will have to give her the benefit of the doubt and clearly spell
out what it wants from the United States, using the visit and its
aftermath to take the measure of what the Obama administration
wants from Brazil.

Bilaterally, taxes, tariffs and trade, even gender and race, will top the
agenda. Haiti will emerge as a far more productive use of both
countries’ talents than disputes over Colombia or Honduras. The
secretary will hear Brazil’s understanding of the Andean region and
its vision for South American integration. Perhaps she will explain
the glacial pace of Washington’s movement on Cuba policy.
Discussions on climate change and global finance will advance.

But it is Iran that will likely get the most airtime. A hawk on that
subject, Secretary Clinton insists that emerging powers join U.S. and
European pressure on Iran, while the Lula government regards
sanctions as a path to military force. As anathema as President Luiz
Inácio Lula da Silva’s public embrace of the Holocaust-denying
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be, Brazil’s channel to an increasingly
chaotic and unpredictable Tehran should not be dismissed as anti-
American posturing.
Mrs. Clinton’s visit will not result in the intimacy of a “special
relationship,” or in the uncomfortable embrace Washington often
bestows upon its best friends in the region. But if she leaves with an
appreciation of Brazil’s exceptionalism — a quality that Brazilians
fully understand in the United States — a healthy and clear-eyed
mutual respect could begin to emerge.

Julia E. Sweig is senior fellow and director of Latin America

studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.
www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/.../03iht-edsweig.html