Brazil
Dates (tentative): May 15 - June 5, 2008
Group leader(s): Prof. Denise Garcia (denisegarcia@neu.edu) -- originally from Brazil!
This Dialogue will visit Rio de Janeiro and Manaus (Heart of the Amazon forest) and will be joined by Beatriz Garcia, an international environmental lawyer from the United Nations in Geneva. She will lead us to explore the Amazon.
Course description:
Brazil, Major Regional Power
The Challenge of Energy Independence and Climate Security
Tackling climate change and searching for alternative sources of energy are among the chief challenges to states in the 21st century. Compounded with other problems such as armed violence and pandemics - that are likely to become even more pressing in a scenario of dramatic climate change - these twin challenges must be incorporated into the major powers' foreign and security policies.
Brazil is one of the world's emerging powers in the 21st century and a major regional power, aspiring to a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council. In comparison to the other rising powers, such as China, South Africa, and India, Brazil's stature on the international scene is remarkably benevolent. It has a strong pro-developing world diplomatic standing in international negotiations, it has not waged a war for over a hundred years, it has peaceful relations with all its neighbors, it behaves cooperatively in sharing the largest river in the world, the Amazon, with its eight other neighbors on the largest forest with untapped biodiversity.
Brazil is poised to be energy independent, a noteworthy aim for a century likely to be characterized by resource-seeking struggles and scarcity. Brazil has pioneered a sustainable and innovative production of ethanol that is setting a model for the entire world.
In 1992, Brazil was the host of the first United Nations "Earth Summit" - the largest gathering of heads of states and dignitaries ever joined together to negotiate what became the first legally-binding convention on tackling the adverse effects of man-induced harmful impacts on the climate. Out of this summit, the United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention was signed in 1992, and now is one of the most widely adhered to multilateral treaties. The Kyoto protocol, on curbing global warming, is part of this convention. Within the climate talks framework, Brazil advanced the important international law principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities." This means that all nations bear a responsibility to the state of the world's environment but they have varying degrees of responsibility in tackling it according to levels of development.
This Dialogue will explore Brazil's key role in the international security landscape and as a benevolent regional power. The Dialogue's broad intellectual concern is the climate change problem, and will also focus on the twin challenges of seeking alternative sources of energy and pursuing energy independence in a world which competition for resources is likely to be the predominant security paradigm for states.
About Manaus:
Manaus is the Amazon's forest port of entry. "This 1.5 million city lies along the north bank of the Negro River, 11 miles (18 km) above its confluence with the Amazon (Solimoes). It is located 900 miles (1,450 km) inland from the Atlantic coast in the heart of the Amazon rain forest. As a major inland port (reached by oceangoing vessels from the Atlantic) it is a collecting and distribution center for the river areas of the upper Amazon. Principal exports include rubber, Brazil nuts, rosewood oil, jute, and a host of minor forest products; cordage and coffee sacks are made from jute. Manaus' industries include brewing, shipbuilding, soap manufacturing, the production of chemicals, the manufacture of electronics equipment, and petroleum refining (the oil being brought by barge down the Amazon from Peru)." http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~sergiok/brasil/manaus.html
Benefits to NU: students of environment, public policy, marine sciences, music, and all, students, alumni, who are interested in the Amazon Forest.
Visit to: the mayor, the State House (and their many environmental programs), the glamorous Opera House, Research Institutions, the "meeting of the waters":
"Six miles from Manaus, Brazil is one of the most incredible displays of nature's majesty. No matter what you've heard, nothing can fully prepare you for a trip to Meeting of the waters, the incredible place where two distinct bodies of water meet, but don't mix. Here is where they join, without losing their distinct qualities... As its name suggests the Rio Negro is a darker, slower, and much heavier body of water than the Rio Solimoes. Tempurate, density, velocity differences keep these two bodies of water separate for more than 6 miles before at last they join to form the great Amazon."
Please view:
http://www.destination360.com/south-america/brazil/meeting-waters.php
From my last visit to the Amazon�s meeting of the waters, we encountered hundreds of Amazon pink dolphins...
Course credits: IAFU938 and POLU938
Cost of program: Most major costs will be covered by summer tuition. There may be an additional program fee depending on length of stay in-country, airline ticket prices, or other extra expenses. Students will be responsible for meals and spending money.
Application Process: The program is open to students of any major. Download the Dialogue of Civilizations application, enrollment form, and waiver form. Turn in the completed forms to Cynthia Rapp in the International Affairs Office, 270 Holmes Hall.
Application Deadline: December 14, 2007
Disclaimer: Some information posted here is tentative and subject to change based on costs and dates of available flights. The website is updated as current information becomes available.
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