Postdocs

Research Interests:

• Border disputes
• International Maritime Boundaries and Continental Shelf
• Amazonian Geopolitics

Lattes Curriculum:

Short Bio:

Ricardo Salvador De Toma García is a Researcher linked to the Integrated Security Project in the Pan-Amazon and Southern Borders, Pró-Defesa V, funded by the Ministry of Defense (MD) and CAPES. Postdoctoral internship in the Graduate Program in Military Sciences (PPGCM) at the Brazilian Army Command and General Staff College (ECEME). PhD from the Graduate Program in International Strategic Studies (PPGEEI) at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). Master in Society and Borders (PPGSOF) from the Federal University of Roraima (UFRR). Bachelor of Law from the UFRGS Law School. Lawyer from the University of Carabobo (Venezuela). He is an analyst of the territorial and maritime dispute of the Essequibo between Venezuela and Guyana. He served as advisor to the Permanent Commission on Foreign Policy, Sovereignty, and Integration of the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, co-authoring the White Paper *The Venezuelan Claim of the Essequibo Territory*. He studies geopolitics and the formation of borders and international boundaries in three regions: 1- Guiana Shield; 2- Amazon Region; 3- Caribbean Basin. .

Research Group:
Research Group on National Defense, Borders, and Migrations (GEDEFROM).
Center for Strategic Studies and Marine Spatial Planning (CEDEPEM).

Research Interests:

• The strategic use of cyberspace as Cyber Power
• Impacts of cyberspace on International Relations and National Defense
• Political and institutional adaptation to disruptive technologies
• Use of cybernetics and artificial intelligence as enhancers of military and state capabilities

Lattes Curriculum:

Links and social networks:

Short Bio:

Breno Pauli Medeiros es Investigador de Posdoctorado en la Escuela de Comando y Estado Mayor del Ejército (ECEME) en el proyecto PRO-DEFESA V Inteligencia Artificial y Tecnologías Cuánticas (IATQ): Construyendo e integrando agendas y redes de investigación en tecnologías disruptivas con el objetivo de fortalecer y ampliar la Seguridad y la Defensa Nacional. Actualmente también es investigador del proyecto CyberBRICS del Centro de Tecnología y Sociedad (CTS) de la FGV Derecho Río. Obtuvo los títulos de Doctor y Magíster en Ciencias Militares por la ECEME. Asimismo, es Licenciado y Bachiller en Geografía por la Universidad Federal Fluminense (UFF). A nivel internacional, Breno fue beneficiario de una beca de internacionalización de la Fundación CAPES, que le permitió realizar parte de su investigación doctoral como Visiting Research Associate en el Department of War Studies del King’s College London. Además, es exalumno del programa de Cyber Policy Development en el William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies en Washington, D.C. La investigación de Breno se centra en los impactos del poder cibernético y sus aplicaciones multifacéticas en los marcos institucionales y políticas contemporáneas. Ha contribuido significativamente al ámbito académico con numerosos artículos y capítulos de libros que exploran temas en la intersección entre tecnologías disruptivas como la cibernética y la Inteligencia Artificial, y sus impactos en áreas tradicionales del poder estatal como la diplomacia, la seguridad y la defensa. En su maestría, defendió la disertación “Ciberespacio y Relaciones Internacionales: ¿Hacia la Construcción de un Nuevo Paradigma?”, acerca de los desafíos impuestos por el dominio cibernético a los preceptos fundamentales de la disciplina de Relaciones Internacionales. En su licenciatura en Geografía, elaboró la monografía “La Lógica Reticular de Internet, su Gobernanza y los Desafíos a la Soberanía de los Estados Nacionales”.

Research Group:
Laboratorio de Poder Cibernético (LPCiber).

Research Interests:

• International Security
• International Law
• International Organizations
• UN Peace Operations
• Brazilian Foreign and Defense Policy

Lattes CV:

Short Bio:

Lawyer, professor, and researcher, with a Master’s degree (2002) and Ph.D. (2007) in International Relations. In 2025, a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Graduate Program in Military Sciences of the Instituto Meira Mattos (PPGCM‑IMM), at the Brazilian Army Command and General Staff School (ECEME). She is a visiting professor at Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) and coordinator of two nationwide teaching and research networks: the Brazilian Network on Peace Operations (REBRAPAZ) and the Maria Quitéria Network for Security and Defense.
Over the past two decades, she has been involved in teaching activities in International Relations programs at FGV, PUC‑Rio, Cândido Mendes, IBMR, UNESP, and UniSantos. She has also given lectures at diplomatic and military schools such as the Rio Branco Institute, the Army Command and General Staff School (ECEME), the Air Force Command and General Staff School (ECEMAR), the Army Officers’ Advanced School (EsAO), the Military Academy of Agulhas Negras (AMAN), the Brazilian Peace Operations Joint Training Center (CCOPAB), and the Naval Peace Operations Center (COpPazNav). Between 2009 and 2019, she worked at the Igarapé Institute and provided research and consulting services for the World Bank and the NGO Viva Rio, gaining experience in evidence‑based, policy‑oriented research methodologies.
She has received the following scholarships: CAPES Doctoral Sandwich Abroad (2005–2006); PUC‑Rio “Academic Performance” Doctoral Scholarship (2004–2005); FAPERJ “Nota Dez” Master’s Scholarship (2002–2003); and a CNPq Undergraduate Scientific Initiation Scholarship (1997–2000). She holds the following decorations: “Peacemaker” Medal (2023); Marechal Trompowsky Medal (2023); Commendation “Meritorious Collaborator of the Brazilian Army” (2022); “Brazilian Army” Medal (2017); and “Civil Defense of the State of Rondônia” Medal (2014).

Research Group:
Peace Operations Research Laboratory (LABPOP).

Research Interests:

• Information Security and International Relations
• Armed non‑state actors
• Power projection in cyberspace
• Hybrid and covert wars

Lattes CV:

Links and social media:

Short Bio:

Leandro Loureiro Costa holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ, 2021) and a Master’s degree in International Relations from UERJ (2016). He is currently a substitute professor at the Institute of International Relations and Defense (IRID) of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). At IRID‑UFRJ, he has taught the courses Strategic Studies, Information Security, International Security, Introduction to Research Methods, and Analysis of Society and State. He has experience in the field of Security Studies, working mainly on the following topics: Irregular War, Terrorism, Cyber Power, Hybrid Warfare, and the Privatization of Violence. He is a researcher at the Laboratory of Studies on Security and Defense (LESD).

Research Group:
Laboratory of Studies on Security and Defense (LESD).

Research Interests:

• Food Security and Defense
• Circulation of chemical agents and agriculture
• Public policies focused on CBRN defense
• Disasters and the employment of the Armed Forces

Lattes CV:

Links and social media:

Short Bio:

Ivi Vasconcelos Elias holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Graduate Program in International Relations at the Rio de Janeiro State University (PPGRI‑UERJ, 2022), a Master’s degree in International Relations from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (IRI‑PUC‑Rio, 2009), and bachelor’s degrees in International Relations from Universidade Vila Velha (UVV, 2003) and in Law from the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES, 2008). Since 2005, she has served as a professor in higher education, teaching in programs of International Relations, Law, and Social Sciences, with experience in undergraduate, lato sensu specialization, and stricto sensu graduate studies. Between 2023 and early 2025, she was a substitute professor at the Federal Center for Technological Education Celso Suckow da Fonseca (CEFET‑RJ), where she taught courses in the undergraduate program in Applied Foreign Languages to International Relations (LEANI), with an emphasis on International Relations and Economics, and also served on the faculty of the lato sensu specialization in Society, Language, and International Relations. Her research interests focus on the intersections between the global food production regime, food security, and social reproduction. She is a researcher with Redagri (International Agrifood Studies Network), linked to the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB), working in the research line of Governance and Agrifood Relations. She is currently developing research within the Graduate Program in Military Sciences at the Instituto Meira Mattos (IMM/ECEME), investigating the international political economy of pesticides and their implications for food security and Defense in Brazil. At PPGCM, she is part of the Research Center on CBRN Defense and Disasters (NuPeDD), expanding her studies to the analysis of public policies aimed at CBRN defense, disaster management, and the employment of the Armed Forces.

Research Group:
Research Center on CBRN Defense and Disasters (NuPeDD).