Brazil in the BRIC initiative: Soft balancing in the shifting world order?

Abstract

The foreign policy options of Brazil are limited in view of the superior hard power of the established great powers. Brazil's soft balancing strategy involves institutional strategies such as the formation of limited diplomatic coalitions or ententes, such as BRIC, to constrain the power of the established great powers. The BRIC states have been amongst the most powerful drivers of incremental change in world diplomacy and they benefit most from the connected global power shifts. In a global order shaped by great powers through international institutions, those players who effectively operate within them as innovators, coalition builders and spokesmen while preserving great amounts of sovereignty and independence have the potential to substantially influence the outcomes of future global politics.