The LAT has an interesting piece on Brazil entitled Resource-rich Brazil puts up its guard which discusses Brazilian defense and space policy that starts of with the thesis that Brazil is seeking to protect its vast resources: “It’s part of a far-reaching defense plan to ward off potential plunderers of its immense natural resources, officials say.”
Now, it makes sense that a state with a lot to protect would seek to protect it (it’s IR theory 101). Having said that, the actual military threats that Brazil faces vis-à-vis its natural resources (or, in general) are quite low.
Indeed, the better explanation for Brazil’s behavior is buried in the last half of the piece:
A space program and modern weapons are a status marker: the price of membership to the first rank of nations, those that are rule makers, not rule takers, said Guedes da Costa of National Defense University.
"Brazil wants to be a player in world trade, the environment, and have a seat on the U.N. Security Council. For the leadership, that translates into military purchases if you are going to participate at that level," he said.
[…]
a big, modern military is also part of Brazil’s emerging status as a global power.
"We are now the world’s ninth-largest economy and we will continue to grow," the consultant said. "So we must have a military status that is commensurate with our economic size and international influence."
Building Brazil’s status in the international community has a whole lot more to do with all of this than fears that neighbors (or even the US or China) is going to invade to take away Brazil’s natural resources.
