Bill Seitz quotes Bruce Sterling : Why did BraZil never have wars?

Zenith Angle (WebSeitz/wikilog)

Actually Brazil had plenty of wars. Most recent was when they got together in a three way spat which involved invading Paraguay (think, though need to check.)

Brazilians didn't invent much. Well, that explained it.

Brazilians claim one of their guys invented the first airplane. :-)

Probably the main reason Brazil hasn't invented much or had many wars is that it has a pretty small population in huge space. And it's pretty much self-sufficient in raw materials.

Also, of course, there's a lack of the kind of ecosystem necessary for invention : wide-spread literacy, wide-spread education, investment community willing to back innovators, etc. etc. And for a long time it was dominated by the Catholic church.