Brazil Needs A-Bomb Ability, Aide Says, Setting Off Furor

A Brazilian official says that nuclear research is necessary for his country because "we need to be prepared." But prepared for what? Across the border in Argentina, and across the region, people are wondering what to make of this latest news from Brazil's newly-elected leftist government. Although the Brazilian President has distanced him from his aide's remarks, during his campaign he described the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Brazil joined in 1995 as favoring the US and other nations that already had nuclear weapons and asked "If someone asks me to disarm and keep a slingshot while he comes at me with a cannon, what good does that do?" Since then, North Korea's recent moves to re-start its nuclear program have certainly gotten the attention of the US and may even win it more respect and much-needed food and energy aid. Brazil's possible move in that direction begs the question – is having nuclear weapons necessary to be taken seriously by the world's most powerful country? – YaleGlobal