Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Brazil's refusal to implement the Additional Protocol to its safeguards agreement with the IAEA weakens the nonproliferation regime as a whole. Brazil should lead by example and sign and ratify the Protocol before the opening of the 2010 NPT Review Conference.
Venezuela's close ties to Iran on nuclear cooperation does not help minimize skepticism about its peaceful nuclear intentions.
The decades-long oil wars might be coming to an end, but there will be new types of conflicts, controversies, and unwelcome surprises in our future.
There is no single solution to the financial crisis for middle-income countries, but fundamental labor markets reforms that create high-paying jobs are key to restarting economic growth.
The global economic crisis is making painfully evident to the developing world the limitations of overdependence on a narrow set of exports and markets.
The Brazilian economy would receive a small boost from either a Doha Round trade agreement at the WTO or a major trade pact with other developing countries, including China.
Despite holding a leading position in world trade negotiations, Brazil will benefit little from increased trade. Policy makers face acute challenges as the country struggles to generate sufficient employment and improve labor incomes.
Past financial crises and periods of slow growth in developing countries show that economic downturns may impact the income of the poor less severely than that of the non-poor. However, given the paucity of their initial incomes, even small reductions in earnings impose a heavy toll on the poor.
Enthusiasm for nuclear energy in Latin America is on the rise again—this time as an antidote to energy insecurity and global climate change. But like anywhere else, the needed intellectual and physical infrastructure required for nuclear power will require major political, financial, and public support, which may or may not be dampened by the current economic crisis.
Conditional Cash Tranfers have reduced inequality in three Latin American countries: Brazil, Mexico, and Chile. While they represent only a small share of total income, they have lead to a 21 percent drop in inequality in Brazil and Mexico, and to 15 percent reduction in Chile.