In recent years, São Paulo, Brazil has like many other Latin American cities, been held up as a model of public security for other cities in the global South. Dramatic declines in homicides by more than 80% in some urban districts, has created a sense that the city is safer than ever. By extension, many have [...]

The global financial crisis, wars and natural disasters have inspired a new wave of immigration to Brazil. According to the Ministry of Justice, the number of legal immigrants entering Brazil rose by 50% over a six month period [pt] in 2012. The majority of immigrants came from Haiti, Bolivia, Spain, France and the United States. The new [...]

MADRID – The Cold War may be over, but superpower rivalry is back. As a result, the international community’s capacity to unite in the face of major global challenges remains as deficient as ever. Nowhere is this more clearly reflected than in the case of Syria. What was supposed to be a coordinated effort to [...]

In recent years, the state government of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has adopted a security policy based on the installation of Pacifying Police Units (Unidades de Polícia Pacificadoras), known as UPPs. The aim of the UPP strategy [pt] is to place permanent police units in favelas (shanty towns) to tackle crime and promote social policies. Since December 2008, 18 [...]

On 3 October, Brazilians will go to the polls to elect a new president and parliament. This weeks the ISN examines what impact the elections will have on the country’s growing regional, and increasingly global, reach – and how a new president can emerge from the long shadow of Lula da Silva’s popularity to built [...]