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In neoclassical realism the system acts as a ‘container’ of state action. Systemicpressures are nonetheless open to interpretation, meaning that “systemic incentivesand threats, at least in the short run, are rarely unambiguous”. 169 In addition, there israrely ‘a’ single, correct response to systemic incentives, and actions taken by statesmay often have the opposite effect to that intended. 170 As Hagan contends, whileforeign policy is “an inherently political process”, 171 the international environmentis the ultimate container for how the state leadership forms its foreign policy. This isultimately still a highly deterministic view, but one that as will be seen later, is highlypertinent to the position of middle- or intermediate powers.However, the story becomes more complicated in the developing world, wheremost emerging states are located today. Growth in material resources, under Leftistadministrations, such as those of the ANC in South Africa and PT in Brazil, wouldimply large-scale state-directed programmes aimed at wealth redistribution.However, as will be shown in the individual case study chapters, this has taken placeon a limited scale. Close relations between these governing parties and the labourmovements in their respective countries have only had a limited impact on foreignpolicy, but larger structural issues, such as state capacity or national power, affectthe projection of strength by these two rising powers (See Figure 3).169 Jeffrey W. Taliaferro, Steven E. Lobell and Norrin M. Ripsman, “Introduction:Neoclassical realism, the state, and foreign policy”, in Neoclassical Realism, the State,and Foreign Policy, eds. Steven E. Lobell, Norrin M. Ripsman and Jeffrey W. Taliaferro(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009): 28-29.170 Ibid.171 Joe D. Hagan, “Domestic Political Explanations in the Analysis of Foreign Policy”, inForeign Policy Analysis: Continuity and Change in its Second Generation, eds., LauraNeack, Jeanne A.K. Hey, and Patrick J. Haney, (Englewood-Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,1995): 132.89