Ryan Berg
Senior Fellow, Americas Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Senior Special Agent, Brazilian Federal Police
Christian has been a Special Agent with the Brazilian Federal Police for the past 20 years. He is currently serving as the Under Secretary of Justice and Public Security for Intelligence and Integration within the Department of Justice and Public Security in the State of Minas Gerais – Brazil.
Before joining the Federal Police, he was a Tax Lawyer and Consultant with KPMG International for 4 years. He holds a PhD in International Relations from PUC Minas/ Brazil.
He also holds an MA in International Relations and a degree in Law (JD). He has graduated from the Perry Center/National Defense University/Washington/DC in both “Strategy and Defense Policy” and Combating Transnational Organized Crime” courses.
His areas of expertise as a Federal Agent include Intelligence, Counterterrorism, Intelligence Operations, Counter Intelligence, Jungle Operations, Counter Guerrilla Operations, Countering Transnational Organized Crime, Counter Migrant Smuggling, Anti-Corruption and Counternarcotics. He has an extensive experience in transnational crime investigations and counterterrorism, both in Brazil and overseas. He was recently deployed for one year in the Middle East to investigate transnational terrorism threats and terrorism facilitation (crime x terror nexus) in a multinational environment consisting of law enforcement, intelligence and military personnel.
As an academic researcher, his main themes of research are: Terrorism/CT, Insurgency/COIN, Countering Transnational Organized Crime and Asymmetric Conflicts. He is a research fellow at research centers in Brazil and abroad. He has written and published a number of articles and book chapters in 3 different languages (Portuguese, English and Spanish). He is also a lecturer and professor at post graduation level in Brazil and overseas. He is a trainer/instructor at UNICRI (United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute) and UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) in the area of “crime x terror nexus” and “Capacity building to counter crime/terror convergence.”
He is also a lecturer at Washington/DC based National Defense University’s Perry Center and NESA Center in the area of CTOC, CT and Capacity Building for countering crime/terror nexus.