Brazil, East Asia, and the Shaping of World Politics Alexandre UEHARA & Guilherme CASARÕES* Abstract Key Words In this article, we analyse the relationship Brazil, East Asia, Japan, South Korea, between Brazil and East Asian countries- People’s Republic of China, foreign policy, Japan, China, South Korea and North Korea. trade relations. Even though most of these bilateral contacts are not new, they have been taken to a whole new level in the last two decades. While trade Introduction and investments have been the main element in these relations, they have assumed, especially It is no news that Brazil has already under Brazilian President Lula da Silva, an started to move onto the global stage. important political dimension. Our hypothesis is that stronger ties between Brazil and East The last 20 years have been of paramount Asia, however difficult they will be to achieve, importance to Brazilian diplomacy, will become paramount in shaping a new global thanks to the new domestic context order, inasmuch as they may lead to a growing of democracy, free markets, economic relevance of these countries in international politics. From a Brazilian perspective, East Asia development, and social inclusion. After may help the country attain its main foreign a decade of economic stability and trade policy goals in the 21st century. liberalisation under President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-2002), the country has finally made its path towards sustainable growth, thus making it * Alexandre Uehara is the dean for Academic Affairs at Faculdades Integradas Rio Branco possible for the “tropical giant” to affirm and a researcher at the Núcleo de Pesquisa its status as an emerging power and a em Relações Internacionais (NUPRI/USP). regional leader. In the Lula da Silva years He has specialised in Japanese foreign policy and Japanese-Brazilian relations. Guilherme (2003-2010), with the growing interest of Casarões is Professor of International Relations decision makers in Brasilia in turning the at Faculdades Integradas Rio Branco and at country’s greater political and economic Fundação Getulio Vargas, having specialised in Brazilian diplomacy and middle-powers in weight into concrete diplomatic results, international politics. They are both based in the country successfully diversified its São Paulo, Brazil. 75 PERCEPTIONS, Spring 2013, Volume XVIII, Number 1, pp. 75-100. Alexandre Uehara & Guilherme Casarões partnerships, reached new markets in traditional partners (China, the Asia- faraway regions, and demanded a bigger Pacific region, Africa, Eastern Europe, say in international institutions. Middle East, etc.), trying to reduce asymmetries in external relations with 3 Asia was made one of the powerful countries”. priorities of Brazilian diplomacy, The “autonomy through diversifica- owing to promising cooperation tion” strategy did not preclude the for- opportunities in the fields of eign policy principle that had prevailed science and technology, as well the decade before, “autonomy through as to improved trade prospects. participation”, which was driven by values and towards the participation in international (liberal) regimes and mul- The foreign policy strategy in the Lula tilateral structures.4 Nevertheless, this years was neatly labelled “autonomy predominantly “Grotian”5 approach to 1 through diversification”. While it world politics6 was replaced by a more lived up to the century-long tenets and “realist” one in which Western and lib- traditions of Brazil’s foreign policy- eral values played a lesser part and that 2 pacifism, legalism and realism - it also gave way to a more nationalist and de- maintained the quest for autonomy velopmentalist rhetoric at home and that defines Brazil’s contemporary abroad. international relations. There was, 7 however, an important break in how Relations with East Asia are, of the country addressed the challenges course, an integral component of Brazil’s imposed by the changing global context. global strategy. With the end of East- Lula’s foreign policy guidelines went West confrontation and the domestic well beyond the desire to make Brazil changes in Brazilian society, such as the a “global trader” and instead aimed at political opening and trade liberalisation driving the country towards a more of the late 1980s, the Brazilian Foreign prominent international role so that it Ministry (Itamaraty) has had to rethink could become a “global player” in world the country’s foreign policy goals. East affairs. Hence, the new strategy involved Asia has therefore become one of the adhering to “international norms and regions that Brazil has started to look at. principles by means of South-South As early as 1993, Asia was made one of the alliances, including regional alliances, priorities of Brazilian diplomacy, owing and through agreements with non- to promising cooperation opportunities 76 Brazil, East Asia, and the Shaping of World Politics in the fields of science and technology, as according to the foreign minister under well as to improved trade prospects. Lula, Celso Amorim. First of all, it is necessary to “strengthen the elements Brazil’s interest in Asia was twofold: of multipolarity of the international first, at the economic level, expectations system”, towards which the forging of an were high about getting closer to a alliance with emerging countries, as well region that was seen as a model of as with African nations, was paramount. economic and scientific development. Secondly, it is indispensable to make Secondly, at a more political level, Asian South America- the administration’s nations fulfilled the need for diverse declared priority- “politically stable, strategic partnerships in the context of socially just and economically multilateralism. Therefore, regardless of prosperous”. Finally, it is crucial to “[r] party ideologies, Asia in general- and estore confidence in the United Nations”, its Eastern sub-region in particular- has a goal for which Brazilian foreign policy been a foreign policy priority since the would “defend the enlargement of the 1990s. Yet while President Cardoso paid Security Council with the inclusion official visits to several countries, such as of developing countries among its Japan, China, South Korea, Malaysia, permanent members, so as to reinforce Indonesia, and East Timor, President its legitimacy and representativeness”.9 Lula struggled to take relations with the Asian giants to another level.8 Brazil’s growing demand for The bottom line of relations with Asia industrial goods, as well as its is that foreign policy should be used as notable industrial capacity, a tool to promote economic and social may provide a handful of development. At a more immediate opportunities for Japanese and level, trade and investments should South Korean companies. not just help boost the productivity of the Brazilian economy, but also supply some of our long-standing demands for The main argument of this article is technological and industrial autonomy. that all these goals are connected to the In the long run, however, the idea is that relationship with East Asia. Making the these ties should become the cornerstone world less centred on American (and of a new global order. This political Western) power involves building bridges ambition, from a Brazilian standpoint, between Brazil and China, Japan and should lead to a three-pronged strategy, the Koreas. Due to its lack of material 77 Alexandre Uehara & Guilherme Casarões capabilities, the Itamaraty has decided demand for industrial goods, as well to invest in weak institutional strategies as its notable industrial capacity, may such as the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, provide a handful of opportunities for and China) group- now BRICS, with Japanese and South Korean companies, the inclusion of South Africa in late insofar as Brazil could work as a hub for 2010- with the goal of reducing the the surrounding markets. manoeuvring room of American foreign policy in global affairs. On the financial front, Brazilian and Chinese interests While the Japanese supplied have converged into the G20 group, Brazil’s demand for a workforce which also counts Japan- a member of and manufactured goods, the the G8- and South Korea as members, tropical abundance of primary and whose goal is to reshape the global products helped Japan overcome economy in a less centralised (and its scarcity of resources. more regulated) fashion. These are two examples of what some have called a soft 10 balancing strategy, which is aimed, as Finally, partnering up with East Amorim puts it, at increasing, “if only Asia may take Brazil closer to its long- by a margin, the degree of multipolarity standing aspiration for a permanent seat 11 in the world”. on the Security Council. The country Policies toward South America are to has been working side by side with some extent shaped by this interaction the Japanese government (along with between Brazil and East Asia. Over the Germany and India) to this end in the so- last decade, the People’s Republic of called G4. Even though it is quite likely China (PRC) has become the one of that teamwork in this case may bring a leading trading partners of such countries number of practical problems- which as Chile, Argentina and Peru.12 Some range from coordination to political Chinese industrial production competes barriers, for some countries more than for directly against Brazilian exports to its others- it still seems reasonable to push neighbours. That is why the economic this issue collectively. Deeper ties with presence of China in the region has to China can also offer political leverage be taken into account if Brazil wants for the Brazilian bid, as long as they to confirm itself as a leader- or, as some find common grounds in international argue, a hegemonic power- in South security issues. Furthermore, the America. Conversely, Brazil’s growing prospects of having the Itamaraty work as 78 Brazil, East Asia, and the Shaping of World Politics a mediator on the Korean issue, however through the Treaty of Friendship, Trade distant thus far, may give Brazil new and and Navigation of 1895.14 In spite of stronger credentials for its candidacy.