Brazil and the G20: Recent Development Strategy and Strength among “New” Emerging Economies Maria Antonieta Del Tedesco Lins and Leandro Pignatari Silva Throughout history, the Brazilian economic development strategy was, as in many Latin American countries, coordinated by the state, with large participa- tion of public companies and strong protection of domestic economic activities. Beginning in the 1930s, the process of imports substitution industrialization (ISI) was completely dissolved only in the 1990s, following the opening of the economy, with massive and swift tariff cuts alongside privatizations and the withdrawal of the state from economic production. At that time, shortly after the start of trade liberalization, the first steps of financial openness were being taken, although at a much more moderate pace than the ones adopted in other emerging economies. Brazil’s participation in international trade has grown since then but is still modest, compared to other “new” emerging economies. The Brazilian development, in its turn, has focused primarily on the domestic market where demand saw a major boost since stabilization in 1994. However, profound changes in Brazil’s international economic and politi- cal position have been occurring since the 1990s and even more so during the following decade. In the economic field, the improvement in Brazil’s external position is largely due to the achievements in its economy, which allowed the country to consolidate its image as a large democracy, with a considerable internal market operating in a more or less stable economic setting. Brazil’s participation in the discussion fora of the international monetary and financial order, therefore, should be understood in light of recent changes in its economy and its performance in the global financial crisis, which con- ferred it much more of the so-called soft-power , that is, leveraged its moral and material capabilities, even though Brazilian participation in the world economy is still relatively small. That allowed it to bring forward proposals on economic reforms and a more credible right to be heard. The objective of this article is to discuss Brazilian participation and its relative importance in the G20, arguing that the country’s position and its increasing political weight are the result of the changes in its own economy and of the fast recovery of the large emerging economies from the 2008-2009 Cover Contents Exit