BRASILIA, Brazil — When Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff gives the opening speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, it will mark not only the first time that a woman has formally opened the world body's annual meeting but also an important gathering for her fast-growing nation.

Brazil already is a respected leader in areas such as biodiversity, energy and climate change — and is the United States' fourth largest creditor. And in Rousseff's first nine months in office, Brazil has continued its quest to increase its global clout — including ongoing efforts to land a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council — and strengthen relations with other developing countries.

But observers and foreign diplomats say that Rousseff also has struck a delicate balance, trying to strengthen relations with the United States that soured during the final two years of her predecessor's term. Some of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's policy initiatives — particularly his attempt along with Turkey to broker a nuclear fuel swap deal with Iran — opened a rift between Brasilia and Washington.

On Tuesday in New York, Rousseff had her second meeting since March with President Barack Obama, who opened a meeting of the U.N. Open Government Partnership — a pro-transparency initiative co-chaired by the two nations — by praising "my friend," the Brazilian leader.

After being elected, Rousseff gave strict instructions to Brazilian Foreign Minister Antonio Patriota in one of their first meetings to "intensify" relations with the United States, according to the Brazilian Foreign Ministry.

But that does not mean moving away from longtime Brazilian positions.

In her speech Wednesday, Rousseff is expected to say a few things that Washington will not like. For one, she will reiterate Brazil's recognition of a Palestinian state and support for its membership in the U.N. Palestinian leaders have said they will ask the U.N. for membership this week, a move that the Obama administration has pledged to veto.

Rousseff has actually said little about foreign policy and made few overseas trips so far, focusing instead on a crowded domestic agenda that includes managing a fragile governing coalition. She already has fired five ministers because of corruption allegations.

But compared to her predecessor Lula's larger-than-life persona, Rousseff's foreign policy may be "low voltage" but is equally ambitious, Brazilian journalist Clovis Rossi wrote in a recent column in the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo.

Lula's affability usually served him well in his relations with foreign leaders but occasionally got him in trouble for appearing too tolerant of some anti-democratic leaders. By contrast, Rousseff is a technocrat who has told her diplomats that "she wants more nuts and bolts from us" and "wants us to be more like engineers" than speechmakers, according to Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Tovar da Silva Nunes.

Before taking office, she spoke out forcefully against Iran's plans to stone to death Sakineh Ashtiani, a woman who'd been convicted of adultery. This reflected Rousseff's personal history as a victim of torture during Brazil's military dictatorship, said Maria Nazareth Farani Azevedo, Brazil's ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva.