About Me / Contact Info

Wilder Alejandro Sánchez

 

Mr. Sánchez is an international security analyst focusing on geopolitics, trade, defense & security issues across the Western Hemisphere, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia.


He is president of Second Floor Strategies, a consulting firm in Washington, DC.

  

His research interests include:

  • Weapons transfers in the Western Hemisphere and other regions
  • U.S. security and defense cooperation and operations in the Western Hemisphere
  • The current and future projects of Latin American defense industries
  • The role of various Latin American, Moldovan, and Kazakhstani militaries in peacekeeping operations
  • The rising use of unmanned aerial vehicles for defense, security, and civilian activities in Latin America and the Caribbean
  • Inter-state tensions (e.g., border disputes, disputes over maritime resources)
  • Separatism issues (e.g., Moldova and the breakaway region of Transnistria)
  • The past, present and future of narco-insurgent movements and drug cartels in the Western Hemisphere
  • Commercial and investment arbitration in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Central Asia


He is a writer for Breaking DefenseJanes, and Shephard Media. He is also a member of the Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), where he publishes a column titled “The Southern Tide,” where he discusses maritime security issues relating to Latin America and the Caribbean. His work also regularly appears in e-International Relations, International Policy DigestGeopolitical Monitor, The Diplomat, and The National Interest, among others. 

 

His analyses have appeared in numerous refereed journals, including the SAIS Review of International AffairsSmall Wars and InsurgenciesDefence StudiesPolar Journal, the Journal of Slavic Military StudiesEuropean SecurityStudies in Conflict and Terrorism, and Perspectivas. He has published book chapters on topics like “The Architectonics of Bolivia’s Foreign Policy,” published in Latin American Foreign PolicieBetween Ideology and Pragmatism. Among his book chapters are a co-authored analysis about separatism in Moldova and an essay on economic diversification in Kazakhstan. 

 

He has appeared in different media outlets like KazInformThe Epoch TimesGlobal Finance MagazineToronto Star, New InternationalistRussia TodayAl JazeeraFusionBBCLe FigaroEl Comercio (Peru), Opera Mundi (Brazil), and the Washington Diplomat, among others.

 

Mr. Sánchez’s presentations include a presentation about the role of Latin American and Caribbean militaries in humanitarian assistance & disaster relief operations at the National Defense University’s William J. Perry Center (formerly the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies). During a workshop organized by Florida International University’s Applied Research Center, he also discussed Peru’s strategic culture. He also discussed Russia’s influence in the Caribbean at an “off the record” workshop organized by the Institute of National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University in Washington D.C. Additionally, he has given presentations at the Inter-American Defense College, CIMSEC’s Forum of Authors and Readers, Hudson Institute, the Colombian National Police, and the Colombian Navy, as well as to university classes at William Patterson University, American University, Miami University (Ohio), the Washington Center, among others.


Mr. Sánchez holds a Master’s degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University’s School of International Service. He has attended the Institute of World Politics, Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and studied in Austria, Belgium, and France. He also studied at the National Defense University’s William J. Perry Center (formerly the Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies) in Washington, DC.

 

Mr. Sánchez served as a senior research fellow at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), a Washington DC-based think tank focused on Western Hemisphere issues. He is also a former columnist for Blouin NewsLiving in PeruProvidenceVOXXI, among others. He is also a former Investigador Invitado (Guest Analyst) at the Centro Argentino de Estudios Internacionales (CAEI), a think tank in Buenos Aires, Argentina. CAEI, where he contributed to the Observatorio de Rusia (Russian Observatory) and Working Papers. He regularly contributed to The Indepth Investing Podcast with Gavin Graham where he discussed the latest developments regarding defense, aerospace, and other companies.

 

E-mail: wilder.a.sanchez at gmail.com