Brazil & China: Partners or Competitors? Designing Strategic Alliances in the Age of Uncertainty.

Brazil and China are rapidly developing a strategic alliance based on the two economies' short and long-term strategic goals. This paper assesses the impact of China on the Brazilian economy and discusses the challenges and opportunities permeating this strategic relationship. This case study suggests that Chinese and Brazilian relations represent a paradigm shift in our conventional understandings of political and economic behavior. More specifically, it suggests that the growing interdependence between big emerging economies no longer requires for large Western economies to mediate the economic exchanges that shape the global agenda. Furthermore, we suggest that in spite of very strongly perceived competitive behavior, the increased interaction between these two nations and the institutionalization of economic ventures is compelling these nations to imagine themselves increasingly as partners in a newly conceived, socially distinct, transnational dimension. To explore the significance of this behavior, we employ perspectives on international trade and globalization, including a brief CAGE analysis, to characterize Sino-Brazilian relations in the context of the 21st century global political economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]