ABSTRACT

            Strategists and policymakers have paid insufficient attention to Brazil’s domestic security challenges, many of which are a result of massive urbanization that occurred between the 1960s and 1980s. Currently, an estimated 1.4 million people per week move to cities in South America, Africa, and Asia; the consequence is a potential future military operating environment dominated by an urban character. Is Brazil a glimpse into the future operating environment? Some forecast that states with urban, poor, littoral, and well-connected populations will be the future centers of conflict. Brazil’s urbanization, compounded with rampant drug use, lack of governance, and inadequate policing has resulted in dire levels of domestic violence fueled by a triad of militias, gangs, and drug cartels. In response to Brazil’s security challenges, the Unidade de Policia Pacificadora (UPP) was created to pacify urban areas that have been lost to the state for several decades. The UPP’s implementation has had mixed success and parts of Brazil remain extremely dangerous. With the current rise of Brazil’s economy, population, and world influence, but with significant domestic security issues, there lies a strategic opportunity to bolster the relations between both Brazil and the United States, using the military instrument of national power. Here the United States can learn from Brazilian policing efforts in urban areas and in return US Special Operations capacity programs can be implemented to enhance and improve Brazilian pacification operations. Evidence and arguments were collected from peer-reviewed academic journals, intergovernmental organization reports, and current media sources.