Deborah Barros Leal Farias is a Brazilian-born Senior Lecturer at UNSW Sydney's School of Social Sciences, where she teaches Politics and International Relations. She has a multidisciplinary background: PhD in Political Science from UBC (Canada), as well as  an MA in International Relations, and bachelor degrees in Economy and in Law from Brazilian institutions. Since 2000, she has worked as a policy analyst and lectured at various universities (in Brazil, Canada, and now in Australia). Her current main areas of interest involve global governance and the international political economy of rising powers, particularly Brazil.