The two-power standard turned against Britain

What if Brazil adopted a two-power standard that included Britain?

It could trigger an escalating loop, because Brazil's growth would itself change the powers Britain had to exceed.

The British rule measured the Royal Navy against the next two largest powers combined. A Brazil explicitly building to match Britain and another navy would create an open-ended construction race. If Brazil grew into the second-largest naval power, its own fleet would enter the British calculation that Brazil was trying to match. The resulting feedback loop shows how a seemingly precise force standard can become strategically unstable.