Podcast

Explaining Brazil #73: Is Brazil capable of protecting the Amazon on its own?

Jair Bolsonaro’s laissez-faire environmental policy could have irreversible consequences not only for Brazil—but for the entire world. And one Harvard professor believes that it is only a matter of time until major powers try to stop Amazon deforestation by any means necessary. That could include, in a not-so-distant future, economic sanctions or even military operations.

Is that scenario too far-fetched? That’s what we will discuss this week.

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On this episode:

Stephen M. Walt is the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University. He previously taught at Princeton University and the University of Chicago, where he served as Master of the Social Science Collegiate Division and Deputy Dean of Social Sciences.
Martha Castro is an intern at The Brazilian Report. She is a Brazilian journalism and political science student at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Background reading:

Read Stephen M. Walt’s text on Foreign Policy: “Who will save the Amazon (and how)?”
Brazil’s government wants to drill oil from the Amazon rainforest.
How climate issues are pushing food prices up in Brazil.
Euan Marshall explains what is the Amazon Fund and why it could end.
The Jair Bolsonaro administration has made into a habit proposing laws with little to no justification in science. The latest was his much-publicized feud with the Brazilian Institute of Space Research over Amazon deforestation data.

Explaining Brazil is made by:

Gustavo Ribeiro, editor in chief of The Brazilian Report. He has extensive experience covering Brazilian politics. His work has been featured across Brazilian and French media outlets, including Veja, Época, Folha de S.Paulo, Médiapart, and Radio France Internationale.
Maria Martha Bruno, producer. She is a journalist with 15 years of experience in politics, arts, and breaking news. She has collaborated with Al Jazeera, NBC, and CNN, among others, and worked as an international correspondent in Buenos Aires.
Euan Marshall, editing. is a journalist and translator who has lived in São Paulo, Brazil since 2011. Specializing in Brazilian soccer, politics and the connection between the two, his work has been published in The Telegraph, Al Jazeera, The Independent, among others.