Can Brazil Become a Powerhouse?

    Brazil is a truly unique country. Take one look at a map of South America, and Brazil's impressive size is evident. Brazil is the fifth largest country on Earth by area and sixth largest by population. It's economy is the ninth largest in the world, with a GDP of around 2 trillion dollars. Nevertheless, the media (including this site) has criminally neglected Brazil. Most media outlets in America only report on the corruption scandals which plague the country, and not the immense potential. I made the mistake of not mentioning Brazil in my balance of power post, which included detailed analyses of nine countries and the European Union. This post aims to fix that mistake, by providing an report on both Brazil's current state, as well as its potential paths for future growth and development.
     One of the reasons that Brazil has not been covered on this site is the fact that Brazil is not a military giant. Brazil's military is impressive, with hundreds of fighter jets, 340,000 active personnel, and a few hundred tanks, but it is certainly below the likes of the United States, China, Russia, or India - not to mention the fact that Brazil does not have nuclear weapons. Furthermore, South America is not as interesting to examine as areas such as the Middle East or East Asia. There is no proxy conflict, and there are no foreign superpowers launching invasions of various South American countries. This is a good thing, but it makes Brazil (and South America as a whole) relatively unattractive to report on. Additionally, Brazil's constitution establishes a largely pacifistic, cooperative doctrine for foreign policy. Thus, Brazil does not get yanked into Middle Eastern proxy conflicts or costly foreign interventions. Brazil's main foreign policy efforts are instead focused on building better relations with its neighbors and becoming a regional power.  For example, Brazil founded UNASUR (The Union of South American Nations) in 2008, and Brazil's relationship with Argentina has grown from cold hostility to a period of warmth. Brazil's ultimate destiny, however, is a global destiny. South America is too small for a nation as large as Brazil. As a member of BRICS, Brazil's future is widely assumed to be that of a developed and powerful nation-state. But how far away is that reality?
    Brazil faces a huge obstacle to its development, and this obstacle is that of poor infrastructure. For starters, Brazil has relatively poor port infrastructure (when compared to countries like China) due to the terrible geography of its coastline. Much of the Brazilian coastline is made of sheer cliffs, and this forces goods to be shipped out of the country through only a few ports. Brazil's second problem is that of the Amazon rain forest. It is incredibly difficult to build good roads through the rain forest, which has resulted in huge portions of Brazil having essentially no commercial or human activity due to lack of infrastructure. In fact, there are no bridges over the Amazon river - the only way to cross is via ferry. Brazil's rail infrastructure is also relatively poor. Brazil only has around 30,000 kilometers of railway lines, compared to China's 120,000 kilometers, America's 260,000 kilometers, and India's 70,000 kilometers. Brazil also has no high speed rail, though this may change - Brazil's government had plans to build a high speed rail line between Rio De Janeiro and Sao Paulo, but recession and political turmoil put these plans on hold, but they very well may be revived.
     If Brazil solves its infrastructure difficulties, this could lead to the solution of a second problem - industrialization. Brazil's economy is dominated by the service sector, and the size of the industrial sector (when compared to GDP) has actually shrunk since 2006. Industrial development in Brazil would combine Brazil's growing agricultural power with factories - Brazil is already a biofuels powerhouse, but could truly dominate the global market within 20 years. While Brazil is not big enough to become a manufacturing titan like China or the United States, it can easily become a world leader, much like Germany is today.
      Of course, no conversation about Brazil can be complete without discussing the endemic corruption which has plagued the country. Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's then president, was impeached for corruption in 2016, while Lula Da Silva, Brazil's president until 2011, was convicted for corruption in 2017 and jailed in 2018. Corruption is everywhere in Brazil - a giant, state-owned oil company was forced to pay three billion dollars due to a corruption scandal. Corruption is the biggest threat towards Brazil - if corruption is dealt with, then Brazil can move forward with infrastructure and industry. Until then, money will simply be leeched away from where it is needed and towards corporate cronies and money-hungry leaders.
     Overall, the future of Brazil is bright. Political obstacles have greatly hampered Brazil's development, but sooner or later, Brazil is destined to takeoff. It is hard to imagine that 30 years from now, Brazil will still be a stagnant, corrupt, and developing nation. Short term pains are there - but in the long run, Brazil's huge resources in terms of both raw materials and manpower can turn the country into a true powerhouse.