A tale of missed opportunities: The Cold War in Brazil

Abstract

Brazil was not at the forefront of initial Cold War events and US-Brazil relations have been more often defined by alignment than conflict. Still, Brazil was not immune to the Cold War logic and when these turbulent dynamics became more prevalent in Latin America, Brazil was at the center of US concerns and influence. But though much was promised and attempted, recurrent opportunities for constructive interactions were missed at the price of growing violence and social injustice. The present piece reviews the scholarship on the Cold War in Brazil by focusing on some of the main works produced by US and Brazilian scholars working on central themes of Brazilian history during the period. Rather than attempting to provide a comprehensive list of works, which would have required more space than permitted here, the article is structured based on key studies that helped shape the conversation about Brazil's historical development in the second half of the 20th-century.