Global Swing States: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey, and the Future of International Order

German Marshall Fund of the United States, November 27, 2012, 47 p.

Daniel M. Kliman & Richard Fontaine *

The rise of four powerful democracies – Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Turkey – presents one of the most significant opportunities for U.S. foreign policy in the early 21st century. Daniel M. Kliman of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) and Richard Fontaine of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) urge U.S. leaders to pursue closer partnerships with these four countries, which they term “global swing states.” In this new report, released as part of a joint initiative of GMF and CNAS, Kliman and Fontaine offer a new framework for thinking about how U.S. engagement with these pivotal powers can bolster peace, prosperity, and freedom.

The authors offer policy prescriptions specific to each of the four countries while recommending that the United States’ engagement with the global swing states include four broad components:

1. Capitalizing on areas where Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Turkey have already taken on new global responsibilities;
2. Addressing some of the demands of the “global swing states” for greater representation in international institutions;
3. Helping  the four countries strengthen their domestic capacity to more actively support the international order;
4. Increasing the resources and attention that the U.S. government devotes to these nations to better match their rising strategic importance.

* Dr. Daniel M. Kliman is a Transatlantic Fellow at the German Marshall Fund. Richard Fontaine is the President of the Center for a New American Security.

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In addition to this capstone report by Kliman and Fontaine, CNAS and GMF are publishing five working papers that explore how the global swing states relate to key elements of the international order and lay out implications for the United States and its European allies:

Global Swing States and the Trade Order by Jennifer Hillman, Senior Transatlantic Fellow, GMF

Global Swing States and the Financial Order by Joe Quinlan, Non-Resident Fellow, GMF

Global Swing States and the Maritime Order by James Kraska, Howard S. Levie Chair of Operational Law, U.S. Naval War College

Global Swing States and the Nonproliferation Order by Megan Garcia, Fellow, Hewlett Foundation

Global Swing States and the Human Rights and Democracy Order by Ted Piccone, Senior Fellow and Deputy Director for Foreign Policy, Brookings Institution