We are proud to present the winner of the 2014 Perry Paper Series Competition: Mr. Nicolás Fernando Gallo Campos, political scientist at the National University of Colombia. Perry Center Director Mark Wilkins presented Mr. Gallo Campos with a certificate in a ceremony at the Center on October 23.

The Perry Paper Series is an annual writing competition named in honor of Dr. William J. Perry, former US Secretary of Defense and namesake of the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies. The competition recognizes cutting-edge research and scholarship on Western Hemisphere issues such as security and defense, terrorism, combatting illicit trafficking, disaster response, rule of law and human rights, civil-military relations, and peacekeeping.

Mr. Gallo Campos being presented with a certificate

The judging committee selected Mr. Gallo Campos’ paper, Fronteras en Colombia: ¿Estratégicas, amenaza u oportunidad para la seguridad y defensa? (Borders in Colombia: Strategic, Threats or Opportunities for Security and Defense?) from among a very strong field of competition on a number of timely and pertinent topics. The judging committee found his analysis of the strategies and challenges of border security in Colombia both insightful and relevant to the challenges facing many countries in the region.