The world is certainly fragmenting, but not only that. It must also be emphasized that it is recomposing itself around regional powers capable of structuring blocs of influence, resilient supply chains and imposing their diplomatic, industrial and energy priorities. States that want to remain influential are those that clearly identify their strategic partners and invest in these relationships with consistency, vision and lucidity. Let’s not stay on the side of the road.
In a changing international landscape, Brazil is not a peripheral player. It is a continental power, the largest economy in Latin America, a member of BRICS, diplomatic pivot of the global South, major player in the South Atlantic and holder of agricultural, energy and mining resources which make it an essential point of balance in the major transitions of the 21st century. For France, continuing to consider the relationship with Brazil as secondary or circumstantial would be an error of analysis. Persisting in this posture would be a strategic mistake.
Indeed, Brazil is France’s leading commercial partner in Latin America: more than 1,400 French subsidiaries are established there, representing hundreds of thousands of jobs. Major groups are deploying decisive investments in energy, infrastructure, industry, agri-food, defense and even services.
Geopolitical and energy balances
But while France is still debating the nature of its engagement in Latin America, other powers are methodically solidifying and consolidating their influence in Brazil. China is investing heavily in infrastructure and energy; the United States is strengthening its technological and security partnerships; several Gulf players are multiplying sectoral alliances…
And very recently, India and Brazil signed, in New Delhi, a historic agreement on critical minerals and rare earths (Brazil has the second largest reserves in the world), the week we signed the Rafale mega-contract in India for 30 billion euros. This timeline is a reminder: let’s look globally at global supply chains and make the same bet as the new global giants: let’s turn our gaze more towards Latin America and Brazil.
The most solid progress will come from initiatives carried out by economic actors capable of thinking about cooperation in the long term.
Indeed, the country is a decisive player in the energy, climatic, agricultural and geopolitical balances of the future. It weighs very clearly in multilateral forums, influences regional dynamics and shapes entire economic spaces.
One thing is certain: we must not wait for this rapprochement to evolve through official channels to begin our transformation. The most solid progress between France and Brazil will come from initiatives carried out by economic actors capable of thinking about cooperation in the long term. The work carried out, for example, by the Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in France, under the leadership of Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, constitutes a clear illustration of this: an economic diplomacy which makes it possible to consolidate lasting bridges between the French and Brazilian ecosystems, beyond political alternations.
In the same spirit, Brazilian actors engaged in bringing the two countries together, such as businessman Arthur Pinheiro Machado, Professor Antonio Brasil of the House of Brazil or the director of the Franco-Brazilian Cultural Institute Raoni Vasconcelos, are participating in this concrete construction of a space of cooperation which is based neither on ideology nor on opportunism, but on cultural projects, investments and assumed industrial complementarities.
France cannot claim to defend its strategic autonomy while neglecting one of the major poles of the Global South
It is precisely this type of initiative that we must promote and amplify today in a relationship that is demanding, balanced and protective of the legitimate interests of everyone. It is through economic diplomacy that we will be able to impose the balance in this relationship. Indeed, this diplomacy, previously neglected, is an essential player in international relations, well beyond just relations between states or between regional or international institutions.
France cannot claim to defend its strategic autonomy while neglecting one of the major poles of the global South. Not fully integrating Brazil into a long-term French vision would amount to accepting a gradual downgrading of France on the world stage. And economic diplomacy, just like cultural diplomacy, has a critical role to play in this new context, without neglecting the fact that, as Montesquieu said in The Spirit of the Lawsthe natural effect of trade between peoples is to bring peace.
*Jean-Paul Laborde is a former Under-Secretary General of the United Nations, honorary advisor to the Court of Cassation and member of the board of directors of the International Association of Criminal Law.
