Brazil's Rise and Portuguese as a Strategic Foreign Language: Preparing Tomorrow's Military Leaders

Brazil's meteoric rise as Latin America's economic superpower has prompted the United States government to reassess its strategic vision of South America and its relationship with Brazil. The next generation of US economic, business, political, and military leaders will likely be faced with a South American landscape heavily dominated by Brazil. The US Department of Defense (DoD) in particular has recognized the strategic importance of Brazil and the critical need for Portuguese language and culture training for military leaders involved in DoD missions in South America. This paper describes the reasons for adding Portuguese as one of the Air Force Academy's eight strategic foreign languages and the future of Portuguese FL education for tomorrow's military leaders.