Fernando Brancoli

about me | bio

I am Associate Professor at the Institute for International Relations and Defense (IRID) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and at COPPEAD Business School. I am currently a Member of the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (2025-2026). I am interested in Global South studies with focus on transnational dimensions in the Middle East and Latin America. I also serve as a recurring professor at Fundacao Getulio Vargas (FGV) MBA programs in International Relations. In my engagement work, I collaborate with governments, international organizations, and think-tanks, including extensive consultation on political risk and international security issues.

My work combines critical security studies, political geography, and anthropology to analyze contemporary forms of militarization, peripheralization, and governance. I have conducted extensive empirical research on urban policing, transnational arms circulation, environmental conflict, and criminal and religious governance in Brazil. This research informs ongoing book projects on the Amazon and on Israeli security technologies in Latin America, as well as articles published in leading international journals.

I am actively engaged in collaborative research networks in Latin America, Europe, and North America. I serve on the board of the Security in Context project and am an Associated Researcher at the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. I have held visiting and fellowship positions at institutions including Princeton, Amherst College, and other international research centers, and regularly collaborate with scholars, civil society organizations, and public institutions.

My current projects focus on the political ecology of extraction in the Amazon, the transnational circulation of security technologies, and the material, symbolic, and affective infrastructures that sustain authoritarian and punitive governance. I am also developing theoretical work on peripheralization, critical infrastructure, and new materialisms in global politics, connecting empirical research to broader debates in international theory and political economy.

My research has been supported by Brazilian and international funding agencies and foundations, and I have received competitive fellowships for field-based and comparative research. I am regularly invited to speak at universities and research institutes in Brazil and abroad, and I contribute to public debates on security, democracy, and environmental governance in the Global South.

In addition to my academic work, I am deeply involved in graduate training, mentoring, and extension programs, including initiatives aimed at widening access to international studies and strengthening dialogue between universities and public schools. Before entering academia, I collaborated with international organizations and development agencies on projects related to governance and social policy.

Fernando Brancoli

Research & Publications

Research Areas

Transnational Political Violence

Examining patterns and dynamics of political violence across borders, with focus on non-state actors and their global networks.

Climate Policy

Investigating the intersection of climate change, security, and international cooperation in developing nations.

Political Risk Analysis

Providing frameworks for understanding and assessing political risks in Latin America and emerging markets.

Selected Publications

Peer Review Articles and Book Chapters

Author of over a dozen peer-reviewed articles in leading journals on international relations, security studies, and Latin American politics.

The complete list of publications can be accessed on Google Scholar.

Policy & Opinion

International Media

  • Al Jazeera
  • CNN
  • Le Monde Diplomatique
  • Los Angeles Times

Brazilian Media

  • TV Globo
  • CNN Brasil
  • Folha de Sao Paulo
  • GloboNews

Policy Engagement

I have conducted training programs for diplomats at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, security agents and police officers, public managers, and at the Brazilian Senate.

Accidental Encounters and Serious Work

In the grand academic tradition of finally creating a personal website in 2026 - roughly a decade after everyone else - I have decided to include a section for the miscellaneous. Here you will find links to conversations, images, and ephemera that don't quite fit the rigorous categories above, but which nonetheless constitute the intellectual life in all its glorious disorder.

January 2026

Snowstorm at the Institute for Advanced Study

Photographic evidence of academic life interrupted by weather. Princeton, NJ.

November 2025

When the Boundaries Between War and Peace Blur: A Conversation

The Everyday Ambassador Podcast with Annelise Riles

Link to CV

Fernando Brancoli

Access my complete academic curriculum vitae and publication records through the links below.

You can access my CV in Portuguese from the Brazilian Ministry of Education Database here.

Contact

Institutional Affiliation

Institute for International Relations and Defense (IRID)
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)

Avenida Pasteur 250, fundos, Campus da Praia Vermelha
CEP 22.290-902
Phone: 55 21 3938-5216, 3938-5218
Email: secretaria@irid.ufrj.br