Lucas Campoi. Unsplash. Baía de Guanabara, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. March 12, 2019.
Brazil Institute
The Brazil Institute—the only country-specific policy institution focused on Brazil in Washington—aims to deepen understanding of Brazil’s complex landscape and strengthen relations between Brazilian and U.S. institutions across all sectors. Our mission is to provide thoughtful leadership and innovative ideas to help democracies evolve and enhance their capacity to deliver results. We achieve this by producing independent research and programs that bridge the gap between scholarship and policy, while serving as a hub for policymakers, scholars, and private sector leaders.
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Explore our Core Thematic Areas
Abundant and Sustainable Future
To secure a future powered by clean, sustainable energy, we are focusing on key areas that position Brazil as a leader in the energy transition and global food security. The preservation of the Amazon Forest is essential for food security and resource resilience. By embracing renewable energy and green bioeconomies, Brazil can drive bio-based solutions for food, fuel, and materials, reducing carbon emissions and fostering sustainable production.
Future of Democracy
The Future of Democracy: Modern democracies like Brazil face challenges such as institutional stagnation, the risk of over-reliance on judicial processes, and fragmented decision-making. Democracies rooted in liberal values will struggle to thrive if they cannot innovate, implement bold, transformative ideas, and break away from the status quo. At the Brazil Institute, we are committed to exploring what a strong and resilient democratic system should look like in the 21st century.
Foreign Policy & Brazil-U.S. Relations
Exploring key issues of bilateral concern and fostering more consequential relations between Brazilians and US institutions in the public and private sectors, as well as in academia and between citizens.
Digital Society
Brazil, one of the most connected countries globally, ranks first in social media use in Latin America and third worldwide. This prime market status brings both challenges and opportunities in areas like AI, online privacy, cybersecurity, and e-commerce. Advancing digitization and leveraging digital technologies requires platforms for discussion and consensus on these critical issues.
Recent Insights & Analysis
Our Experts
Bruna Santos
Director, Brazil Institute
Renata Giannini
Former Fellow
Luiza Duarte
Global Fellow
Jennifer Eaglin, PhD
Fellow
More on the Brazil Institute Past Initiatives
Congressional Study Missions on Innovation
Since 2011, the Brazil Institute has organized and hosted Brazilian Congressional Study Missions on Innovation, in partnership with Brazil’s Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association (Interfarma). Through seminars with experts in academia, government, and industry, the missions aim to facilitate interaction between members of the Brazilian Congress and the leading innovative minds in science and technology with the goal of promoting a better understanding of policies and best practices that foster innovation.
FAPESP Week
Starting in October 2011, the Brazil Institute established a partnership with the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) to promote and highlight the expanded cooperation on science and innovation between the United States and Brazil. A three day symposium was held at the Wilson Center as part of FAPESP Week, in celebration of the Foundation’s 50th anniversary. As a result of the success of the first symposium at the Wilson Center in 2011, FAPESP and the Brazil Institute have co-sponsored FAPESP Week ever since.
Cities in Play (Cidade em Jogo)
The Wilson Center and the BRAVA Foundation of Brazil created the award-winning serious game Cities in Play (Cidade em Jogo) in 2017 to foster civic engagement at a local level. The power of educational games is that they allow us to take complicated issues and present them in a simple but engaging format. Designed with young Brazilians in mind, this award-winning game asks each player to become mayor of a Brazilian city and balance policy goals with fiscal realities.
Accessing Justice: Femicide and Gender-Based Violence in Latin America
The Wilson Center is launching a new project examining gender-based violence in Latin America with a focus on its most extreme form, femicide—the killing of a woman due to her gender—through a rule of law perspective. In Latin America, which has the highest rate of gender-based sexual violence in the world, many countries such as Brazil, El Salvador, and Mexico have passed laws criminalizing femicide and domestic abuse. Yet region-wide, almost 98% of cases involving femicide and violence against women and girls went unpunished in 2016 (UN Women). When and why are laws insufficient to protect women, and how can we reduce and eliminate barriers to implementation? To answer these questions, the project “Accessing Justice: Femicide and the Rule of Law in Latin America” will focus on case studies from Brazil, El Salvador, and Mexico and work to facilitate information-sharing and, through examining the experiences of women and men involved in this space, draw out best practices for confronting and reducing GBV in Latin America
For more information on the project, click here.
Brazil 100
The Brazil Institute’s project, Brazil 100, explores the implications of Lula’s first 100 days in office. The project’s interviews, podcasts, and articles will focus on the country’s key challenges and the political landscape, including sluggish economic growth, poverty, deforestation, and climate change. See more about it here.