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Originally Posted by alpha180sx
Brazil is first among the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) -- four economies that are supposed to overtake the six largest Western economies by 2032.
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This isn't really 'evidence'. But yes, developing nations are gaining influence, and have been for 50 years or more.
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Mexico is first among the MAVINS (Mexico, Australia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Nigeria, and South Africa) -- six economies we expect to blow away expectations and become leading powers in their regions relatively soon.
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Again, not really 'evidence', merely a description.
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Canada and Venezuela are oil powers of the distant future.
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They are already oil powers. Canada is America's #1 oil supplier.
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Peru and Chile are sitting on a fortune of metals and minerals.
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Many countries can claim huge mineral wealth. Whether or not that mineral wealth results in economic development for the population is another issue. Historically, mineral wealth in poor countries tends to make the elite richer while the masses stay poor. Nigeria has tons of oil. It's not exactly an economic juggernaut.
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Our most powerful regional ally--Brazil--refuses to follow our orders on Iran
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Brazil has never been one to 'take orders' from the US. US-Brazil relations have always been somewhat cool.
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Hillary Clinton went to Brazil to beg support for sanctions against Iran and came away empty handed. Now the UN is counting on Brazil, which is friendly with America and Iran, to lead nuclear diplomacy.
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Brazil wants to be a diplomatic player. They and I think Turkey recently tried to negotiated a deal between Iran and the countries of the UN Security council. They got Iran to agree to a settlement proposed by the US a year earlier. However, because Iran had already enriched so much nuclear fuel in the meantime, the settlement was useless and turned out to be a bit of an embarrassment to Brazil and Turkey.
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The World's Richest Man is now a Mexican, not an American.
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He controls a telephone monopoly in the 11th most populous country in the world, of course he is rich. In the US, monopolies are forbidden.
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Three years after a US financial crisis, Latin America is again growing rapidly. The U.S.? Not so much...
Compare this to what happened during the Great Depression. Latin America was devastated when U.S. investment dried up and the export market soured in the 30s. A League of Nations report said Chile, Peru, and Bolivia suffered the world's worst depression.
Today is quite different. Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico have led a buoyant recovery from the global recession, according to Reuters. The regional economy is expected by the UN to grow 4.3 percent in 2010. If the American consumer remains weak, Latin American exports will move elsewhere.
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It's been less than 2 years since the actual crisis, and as developing countries, they should enjoy greater GDP growth than developed countries such as the US or western Europe. They also didn't have the bubble run-up before the recession that we have to work through.
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Chile produces 300% more copper than America--the former world leader in copper production
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Mining is an old, dirty, dangerous industry that releases tremendous pollution. How much do we really want here? I'd rather have the corporate headquarters in the US and mining operations elsewhere.
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Canada and Venezuela will pass the U.S. in oil production in the next decade
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It's called peak oil. US hit it around 1970 and domestic oil production has been declining ever since.
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Now Brazil exports over twice as much beef as we do
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That's because Americans consume so much beef. Compare domestic consumption of beef in the US and brazil, and you will find that we eat way more beef.
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Brazil is now a critical partner for Russia, India, and China
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Brazil has always been cozier with Russia than we'd like.
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The acronym coined by Goldman Sachs to describe the four key emerging powers has taken on a life of its own. Brazil, Russia, India, and China have held several summits and even discussed making a supranational currency -- that would pull the rug out from the U.S. dollar.
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The Euro hasn't yet, why would a BRIC currency?
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What's important here is that global emerging powers have good relations and are inclined to work together. For instance, China just signed major contracts to build factories and a high-speed rail in Brazil.
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China will sign a deal with any country if it means it can export stuff.
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Brazil, Canada, and Mexico all invest a greater share of GDP in clean energy
A Pew survey found that Brazil invests 0.37% of its economy in clean energy. Canada invests 0.25% and Mexico invests 0.14%. America is eleventh in the world at 0.13%.
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Brazil's is so high because most of the fuel they consume is ethanol (E85) instead of gasoline. Sugar cane grows easily in Brazil, and they use the sugar cane to make ethanol for E85. I'm willing to bet that 90% or more of the money they invest in 'clean energy' is in building ethanol plants.
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Hugo Chavez is still in power
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So what? Fidel Castro has been in power for 50 years. Should we assassinate Chavez? Have the CIA start a revolution? He is the democratically elected president of his country. It would be hypocritical (though certainly not unprecedented in US history) to oust a democratically elected leader.
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The CIA has a notorious history of interventions in Latin America, supposedly targeting Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán, Fidel Castro, Manuel Noriega, Rios Montt, Che Guevara, and many others. But they haven't stopped Hugo Chavez from railing against the United States for years. Clearly America has adopted a more passive regional strategy.
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That's because we have realized that overthrowing governments might translate into short-term benefits, but long-term it produces resentment in the population that is getting bullied around. Look at Iran. We overthrew their government, installed a friendly leader (the Shah), and how did that turn out? The Iranians eventually revolted against the puppet government propped up by the US, installed their own, super-conservative, anti-american government, and now Iran the world's greatest rogue nuclear threat.