If you were playing a word association game, Brazil and the Asia Pacific probably wouldn’t spring to mind

Nevertheless, the world’s sixth largest economy has a multilateral agenda bent on reform which may have more regional implications than its increasing trade

Mutlilateralism has been the key component of Brazil’s reformist strategy, however rather than a diplomatic middle power approach, it has adopted a more antagonistic strategy aimed at increasing its influence at key institutions such as the UN, WTO, and G-20

Brazil is challenging the legitimacy of the existing world order because it favours a multi-polar and pluralist system – it not only wants to reconfigure the system and its key organisations, but also to re-distribute economic weight towards itself and its IBSA partners

This form of institutional balancing could be seen as an opportunistic grab for influence in the face of weaker US economic power, but it could also…