Earlier this month the World Trade Organisation (WTO) announced that it had chosen the Brazilian Roberto Azevedo, 55, as its next director general. In September he will take over from France's Pascal Lamy, who has served two four-year terms.

It is a personal success for this career diplomat, but it is also a victory for Brazil on the international scene. The Brazilian diplomatic corps pulled out all the stops to convince a majority of the 159 member states that their candidate was the right choice. But Azevedo's appointment is also a new departure, this being the first time that a Brazilian has headed one of the key bodies in the postwar Bretton Woods system. The country at last has a seat at the top table.

The vote "shows a globalorder in transformation", said foreign minister Antonio Patriota, with "emerging markets [showing] leadership".

The selection process took more than four months. Starting with nine declared candidates, it involved three stages, gradually narrowing the field down to two finalists, Mexico's Herminio Blanco and Azevedo. Both undertook to try to restart the Doha round of trade liberalisation, originally launched in 2001 but held up for years by the deep divisions between developed and developing countries.

Azevedo has been Brazil's permanent representative at the WTO since 2008, establishing a reputation as a gifted negotiator and an advocate of multilateralism. He gained the support of 89 countries, according to the Brazilian foreign ministry.

Some sources maintain that all the African countries and a very large majority among poor and developing nations backed Azevedo. Brazil, Russia,