Brazilian foreign policy has known three main shifts from 1958 to the present. Initially, confirming a trend confirmed in the aftermath of World War II but that was in place since the beginning of the century, the policy follows what could be called the "Rio Branco paradigm", that is the seach for a special relationship with United States. Afterwards, during the military dictatorship, the foreign policy enters a period of diversification of external relationships, in the framework of big changes in the economic basis of the country. More recently, arises the centrality of economic multilateralism for the continuing international insertion of Brazil, in the context of globalization. These inflexions are described together with discussions of the main changes in the international scenario and in the socioeconomic and political conditions of Brazil.
Brazil; foreign policy; diplomacy; economic changes