The Forte de Copacabana International Security Conference is the largest international security forum in Latin America. From its outset in 2003, the event was designed to promote dialogue between experts from the government, the academia and the private sector in South America and Europe. The Conference is currently held by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and the Brazilian Center for International Relations (CEBRI), with the support of the Delegation of the European Union to Brazil.
This year, we will hold the Conference’s 17th edition with the theme “New Frontiers and Sovereignty on the brink of global challenges”. The objective is to discuss issues in the area of international security that are of common interest to both sides of the Atlantic. In this sense, we will debate the continuous transformations of the concepts of Sovereignty and Frontiers in the current multilateral order. Firstly, we will discuss traditional borders, which are being influenced by the emergence of new political actors causing conflicts in different parts of the world, challenging the old paradigms and generating uncertainties in aspects of sovereignty. Another essential topic is the analysis of economic frontiers, since the topic of the defense industry has been on the agenda of major meetings between countries, and the new proposed agreements impact and incite the international system’s structure. Last but not least, we will address the context leveraged by the pandemic, which permeated State agendas and highlighted the need for information flows and, therefore, the deepening of the debate on the risks of cyber attacks: a priority issue in the area of digital frontiers.
In 2020, exceptionally, the conference will be held in a virtual platform in order to protect everyone involved: organizers, guests and audience. We would like to make this an opportunity to bring this discussion about international security to many regions of the globe. Like the Conference, this collection of Policy Papers is bilingual and examines central topics such as the various international mechanisms, the different types of frontiers and their roles, and also aims to identify challenges, as well as make policy recommendations for the future.
