Admiral Julio Soares de Moura Neto
Many changes with the power to affect the Brazilian Navy’s activities and, consequently, its force-posture requirements, are connected to advances in technological and maritime-trade fields, which increase human activities in the maritime environment. Others are related to the changing world order, which influences states’ political priorities and sometimes requires their navies to engage in international security in addition to their traditional role of defense. From these two assumptions some themes emerge that are likely to impact the Brazilian Navy’s operations and force-posture requirements. We presume these themes will continue and are related to various dimensions of maritime security.
We link three themes to the first assumption, which is the exploitation of resources from our continental shelf, mainly petroleum. The proliferation of floating platforms demands deeper attention from the government of Brazil regarding the means necessary secure them and generate appropriate deterrence. A second theme is the growth of world maritime trade, which obviously affects the South Atlantic and requires our naval force to have the capacity to be present and ensure the security of sea lines of communication and the free flow of goods, critically essential to a vibrant society. The increasing intensity of events related to the first two themes leads to a third: the rise of illegal activities that seek to exploit the maritime environment, such as piracy and armed robbery, which are recurrent in the Indian Ocean and expanding in the South Atlantic, as demonstrated by the Gulf of Guinea cases.
The changes originating from the second assumption constitute the theme that drives the Brazilian Navy to participate in humanitarian actions and peacekeeping operations under the aegis of multilateral organizations to contribute to peace and international security—efforts in line with Brazil's interests.
These two assumptions drive the Brazilian Navy to partner with other navies. Through cooperation, and in support of its foreign-policy objectives, the Brazilian state seeks to create conditions to address these themes and others connected to maritime security to build a peaceful and secure environment in the world, especially in our strategic surroundings.