Brazil’s Emergence in the United States’ ‘Backyard’: Domestic Leadership and Systemic Status
| Published date | 01 June 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/09735984231161723 |
| Author | Hoimi Mukherjee |
| Date | 01 June 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Jadavpur Journal of
International Relations
27(1) 7 –32, 2023
© 2023 Jadavpur University
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DOI: 10.1177/09735984231161723
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Article
Brazil’s Emergence
in the United States’
‘Backyard’:
Domestic
Leadership and
Systemic Status
Hoimi Mukherjee1
Abstract
This article studies Brazil’s emerging power status crisis due to policy
shifts under President Jair Bolsonaro. In addition to studying the material
bases, diplomatic relations and perceptions that shape emerging power
status, this article also addresses how political elites shape such status.
While the crisis of status is explained through domestic political and
economic instabilities, this article points to the role of the United States
in fomenting such instabilities. The US–Brazil bilateral relations between
2003 and 2022 are analysed through realist and power transition
theory to outline the systemic dynamics of Great Power and Emerging
Power interactions. Narratives of Brazil’s emergence were premised
on steady economic growth, regional preponderance, and formulation
of a globalist foreign policy under former President Lula. There were
divergences of interests between Lula’s globalist foreign policy and the
US interests in Latin America. Recent disclosures show that Lula was
1Centre for Canadian, US and Latin American Studies, School of International Studies,
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Corresponding author:
Hoimi Mukherjee, Centre for Canadian, US and Latin American Studies, School of
International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India.
E-mail: hoimi.mukherjee@gmail.com
8 Jadavpur Journal of International Relations 27(1)
controversially arrested due to US interference in his trial in 2018 while
he was favored to win the Presidential election. Bolsonaro secured the
victory and initiated sharp policy shifts, aligning closely with the US.
Bolsonaro’s policies consolidated an expansive American presence in
South America, reducing Brazilian leadership roles and creating a crisis
in status. This article contextualizes American interference in Brazil’s
domestic politics and the erosion of status by examining the role played
by individuals in impacting systemic status.
Keywords
Emerging powers, status construction, role of elites, regime change,
realism, power transition theory
Recently, there have been discussions on the crisis of Brazil’s emerging
power status, heightened with President Jair Bolsonaro’s ascent to power
in 2018 (Avritzer & Renno 2021; Kiely 2016; Tarneja 2020). Scholars
have attributed the crisis to economic factors such as recession, the
subsequent increase in poverty rates, and political instability after high-
profile corruption scandals (Kiely 2016; Muzaka 2017; Stuenkel 2021;
Tarneja 2020). Some have pointed to the role of individuals such as
President Jair Bolsonaro and his policies in reducing Brazil’s prestige
and perception of status (Encarnación 2020; Taddei et al. 2020; Stuenkel
2021). Bolsonaro’s election victory after the contested disqualification
and arrest of former President Luis Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva (2003–2010)
has been a turning point. From the Brazilian Worker’s Party (Partido dos
Trabalhadores or PT), Lula was widely credited as the architect of
Brazil’s emerging power status. This emergence was attributed to poverty
reduction schemes, investment in Brazil’s infrastructure, and a proactive
foreign policy premised on multipolarity and ‘south–south’ cooperation
(Hurrell 2008; Rodrigues 2009; Visentini 2014). Recent disclosure shed
light on the role played by the United States and a section of anti-Lula
elites in Lula’s controversial arrest and the rise of Bolsonaro of the far-
right Liberal Party (Fishman et al. 2020; Fox 2022). Realism and Power
Transition Theory can elucidate American motives for effecting Lula’s
removal as agents/actors/emerging powers hostile to American interests/
great power’s interests. This article outlines that Brazil’s emerging power
status narratives were premised on domestic economic growth, regional
leadership projects, and a proactive global role. The credit for the ascent
to this systemic status is given to President Lula. On the other hand, US
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