Why hasnt Brazil "Risen" to a greater power status like Nations like the United States? It seems to have a large population, plentiful land and resources.

What qualities does a great power have?

While this can be a very heated topic for some, and I'm sure a few will disagree with what I have to say, great powers boil down to "sovereign states that have the ability to exert influence on a global scale."^[1] The question to ask, then, is "how and what ways can a country exert influence on a global scale?"

Industrially & Militarily

When Brazil gained its independence in 1824, Portugal wasn't an industrial or military superpower by any standard.^[2] This is in part the reason Brazil was able to so easily declare independence (as previously stated in another thread yesterday),^[3] but meant that the former colony lacked in military eminence and industrial might. Comparatively, the United States was founded and influenced by the world's foremost industrial and military superpower, and the colonies had to fight against it in order to win their independence. Many of the American forefathers were former British elites and generals who had been battle-tested over and over against foreign aggressors.^[4] Most of those who ruled and shaped Brazil immediately prior to independence left to go back to Portugal, and most of the military action Brazil saw were internal struggles or against much weaker foreign actors (some sources say that in the Paraguayan War, the Triple Alliance of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay killed over 90% of Paraguay's male population).^[5] Many of the resources which Great Britain had used to industrialize came from the British colonies in North America, so once independence had been won, those same colonies kept those resources to industrialize themselves, along with the knowledge from their former overlords on how to do it. It should also be remembered that the United States declared independence in 1776, giving them a 50 year head-start on Brazil.

On top of their differing starting parts, Brazil also wasn't as driven to industrialize as the United States was. While the Southern U.S. colonies were abundant with resources, but had rigid class divisions based on race (i.e. slavery), the Northern U.S. colonies were nowhere near as agriculturally productive, nor did they have as rigid racial/class distinctions.^[6] For the most part, the region was made up of a well-educated, fairly homogeneous anglo-saxon, protestant/Calvinist populace. Given this culture and lack of easy agriculture, the Northern U.S. colonies focused heavily on industrialization as a means of living, incentivized from their British kin and competitive against their Southern counterparts. Subsequent wars, especially the American Civil War, and the compulsion to expand across its (then) uncharted Western frontier exploded industry in the United States.

Brazil was the complete opposite from that Northern U.S. colony atmosphere. While resource rich with coffee, cotton, and sugarcane plantations, only a small amount of individuals were educated (they also happened to be white), and eight times as many African slaves were brought to Brazil than the United States (~4mil. vs. ~500k).^[7] As a result, the cheap, expendable--Brazilian plantation owners focused less on cultivating a community of slaves via family and childbirth and more on further importation--labor dis-incentivized the industrialization of Brazil until several decades after independence.^[8]

From the 19th century well into the mid-20th century, Brazil continued to focus industrially on raw materials and were dependent upon commodity-exports.^[9] That's vastly different from the United States, as it continually expanded across North America, it fought several wars against several different actors, each time engaging foreign nations as adversaries or allies. To maintain military superiority or competitiveness, a nation must have a successful economy. This meant increasing trade relations with former adversaries, the United Kingdom especially, constant innovation in industry (moving from the cottage system to the assembly line, using steam-powered engines on boats and trains to move resources, etc.), and gobbling up new land along the way (Louisiana Purchase bought from the French, California territory won from Mexico, Texas ceded from the Mexicans/Texans, Oregon territory disputed from the British, etc.).

Brazil didn't fight in a war against a major power until the First World War, during which it only sent limited support.^[10] It was dis-incentivized from expanding its own territory in South America because most of the surrounding land had already been settled by the Spanish and, to a lesser extent North of it, the British and the French. There was also the chance that the United States would intervene if Brazil had attempted to seize land in the Western hemisphere, as per the Monroe Doctrine and Roosevelt Corollary.^[11] After all, it's well known that the United States has intervened several times throughout Latin America for a variety of reasons. Moreover, what military action it did see were a number of internal revolts and revolutions.^[12] Brazil also didn't have any close connections to any of the major powers of the time, especially compared to the United States, and Portugal was a mere shadow of its former glory.

Once the United States expanded from "sea to shining sea," Americans now could have a significant military and trade presence in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, opening up Asia and the South Pacific as viable industry partners. Brazil has only ever had access to the Atlantic Ocean; until recently with China, it's trade within Asia and the South Pacific has been incredibly low or nonexistent.^[13]

Culturally & Politically

With Great Britain laying the groundwork, continual conflict and trade since American independence is partly responsible for the English language becoming the new "lingua franca." Industrial and military competitiveness and superiority has led to a extensive spread of American media. While this is also a generalization, since the beginning of the 20th century, English has been more and more prevalent in almost every part of the world, in part because of the U.S. military, Hollywood, and, more recently, the Internet.^[14] While Portuguese is out there, and it is spoken by many millions today, it pales in comparison to the use of English in business, diplomacy, academia, media, and online (We did it, Reddit!).

In recent history, Brazil has seen a number of military coups and dictatorships, mostly as a result of radically different approaches to combat market shocks and attitudes towards a commodity-export driven economy.^[15] The military, like in several other Latin American countries, has taken over industry and economic development several times in the hopes of promoting domestic industry; each time, a number of strict protectionist policies would eventually bankrupt the country, bring a civilian uprising, overcorrect to the other extreme, bankrupt itself again, and repeat itself with another military coup. I'm generalizing here again, but this is the general theme of what happened.^[16] One can imagine that this political situation didn't inspire confidence in foreign investors or trading partners, nor did it inspire too many groups politically to emulate their governments. While the United States has had economic downturns from time to time, at no time did it lead to a military coup or inflation rising 1000%+ a year.^[17]

Ultimately, what has led the United States to become a global power has been a continual, combined industrial, military, cultural, and political advancement coupled with a starting point at the height of a former world power and the fortune of location. Brazil never had as great of a starting point as the United States did, and it seems to have almost always lived in its shadow in the Western Hemisphere. Nonetheless, most sources indicate that the South American country is en route to becoming an "emerging power."