A War That Can't Be Won: Binational Perspectives on the War on Drugs

Description

More than forty years have passed since President Richard Nixon described illegal drugs as “public enemy number one” and declared a “War on Drugs.” Recently the United Nations Global Commission on Drug Policy declared that “the global war on drugs has failed with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world.” Arguably, no other country has suffered as much from the War on Drugs as Mexico. From 2006 to 2012 alone, at least sixty thousand people have died. Some experts have said that the actual number is more than one hundred thousand. Because the war was conceived and structured by US policymakers and officials, many commentators believe that the United States is deeply implicated in the bloodshed. A War that Can’t Be Won is the first book to include contributions from scholars on both sides of the US–Mexico border. It provides a unique breadth of perspective on the many dimensions of the societal crisis that affects residents of both nations—particularly those who live and work in the borderlands. It also proposes practical steps toward solving a crisis that shows no signs of abating under current policies. Each chapter is based on well-documented data, including previously unavailable evidence that was obtained through freedom-of-information inquiries in Mexico. By bringing together views from both sides of the border, as well as from various academic disciplines, this volume offers a much wider view of a complex problem—and possible solutions. Contents Preface and Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction: The Many Labyrinths of Illegal Drug Policy: Framing the Issues - Tony Payan Part I. Framing the Issues 1. Cartels, Corruption, Carnage, and Cooperation - William C. Martin 2. President Felipe Calderón’s Strategy to Combat Organized Crime - Marcos Pablo Moloeznik Part II. Current Strategies and Casualties 3. Drug Wars, Social Networks, and the Right to Information: Informal Media as Freedom of the Press in Northern Mexico - Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera and José Nava 4. Political Protection and the Origins of the Gulf Cartel - Carlos Antonio Flores Pérez 5. Organized Crime as the Highest Threat to Mexican National Security and Democracy - Raúl Benítez Manaut 6. A Federalist George W. Bush and an Anti-Federalist Barack Obama?: The Irony and Paradoxes behind Republican and Democratic Administration Drug Policies - José D. Villalobos 7. Caught in the Middle: Undocumented Migrants’ Experiences with Drug Violence - Jeremy Slack and Scott Whiteford Part III. Ending the War: Alternative Strategies 8. Challenging Foreign Policy from the Border: The Forty-Year War on Drugs - Kathleen Staudt and Beto O ’Rourke 9. The Role of Citizens and Civil Society in Mexico’s Security Crisis - Daniel M. Sabet 10. Regulating Drugs as a Crime: A Challenge for the Social Sciences - Israel Alvarado Martínez and Germán Guillén López 11. The U.S. Causes but Cannot (or Will Not) Solve Mexico’s Drug Problems - Jonathan P. Caulkins and Eric L. Sevigny Conclusion: A War That Can’t Be Won? - Tony Payan and Kathleen Staudt Contributors Index