A couple of questions about the Bunker and Sullivan article
I was reading the piece on the drug related violence in Mexico by Bunker and Sullivan:http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/jou...ersullivan.pdf, and I just had some questions about the problems manifesting south of the border in general.
The article spoke in the beginning of how values and attitudes are being affected by the conflict. I would really like to see some polling or statistical results on this subject.
Additionally, is there really any truth to the claims in the article(even though they had through citations) that the drug cartels taking on a pesudo-religious cult like aspect? I haven't seen that mentioned in the news, lit, or ever brought up before on this site or others. Although why back during the intervention in Panama against Noreiga, I had they found cult like items amongst his entourage and amongst some gangs.
Mexico: A Mosaic Cartel War
Mexico: A Mosaic Cartel War
Entry Excerpt:
Mexico: A Mosaic Cartel War
by Paul Rexton Kan
Download the Full Article: Mexico: A Mosaic Cartel War
A situation of high-intensity crime does not mean that a war is not occurring in Mexico. But it is a war of a different kind. In fact, there are several conflicts occurring at once that blend into each other. There is the conflict of cartels among each other, the conflict within cartels, cartels against the Mexican state, cartels and gangs against the Mexican people and gangs versus gangs. When combined, they form a mosaic cartel war that creates an atmosphere “somewhere between Al Capone’s Chicago and an outright war”. It is not an irregular or regular war; neither is it a small war nor a general war, nor a limited war, nor a total war, nor any of the familiar appellations given to armed conflicts fought by conventional militaries. And, finally it is not “a war about nothing.” It is a multidimensional, multiparty and multi-location armed conflict fought among criminal groups over what are essentially criminal goals; the groups are resisted by the state while their goals are rejected by it, making the state a party to the conflict.
Download the Full Article: Mexico: A Mosaic Cartel War
Paul Rexton Kan is currently an Associate Professor of National Security Studies and the Henry L. Stimson Chair of Military Studies at the US Army War College. He is also the author of the book Drugs and Contemporary Warfare (Potomac Books 2009) and was recently the Visiting Senior Counternarcotics Advisor for CJIATF-Shafafiyat (Transparency) at ISAF Headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. He recently completed field research along the US-Mexico border for his forthcoming book, Cartels at War: Mexico's Drug Fueled Violence and the Threat to US National Security (Potomac Books).
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Mexico's Justiciabarometro (Justice Barometer)
Mexico's Justiciabarometro (Justice Barometer)
Entry Excerpt:
The Trans-Border Institute has released the results of a new survey of judges, prosecutors, and public defenders in nine different Mexican states. The survey is part of a series of studies, titled the Justiciabarometro (Justice Barometer), which examines the performance of Mexico's criminal justice system through the assessments of those who operate it.
The results are summarized in two recent reports co-authored by Matthew C. Ingram, Octavio Rodríguez Ferreira, and David A. Shirk. The full report (135 pages, 14.1MB) can be found here and the special report (32 pages, 4.6 MB) can be found here.
Continue on for a brief summary of the results...
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Mexico: The Accidental Narco?
Mexico: The Accidental Narco?
Entry Excerpt:
Mexico: The Accidental Narco?
by Paul Rexton Kan
Download the Full Article: Mexico: The Accidental Narco?
The Obama Administration’s National Security Strategy clearly makes the case: “Stability and security in Mexico are indispensable to building a strong economic partnership, fighting the illicit drug and arms trade, and promoting sound immigration policy.” For the National Security Strategy, it was the first time that the words “stability and security” were used in association with Mexico. President Barack Obama himself was clearer: “I think it's unacceptable if you've got drug gangs crossing our borders and killing U.S. citizens. I think if one U.S. citizen is killed because of foreign nationals who are engaging in violent crime, that's enough of a concern to do something about it.” But doing something about it is proving to be exceptionally thorny.
With the escalation of drug cartel and gang violence in Mexico directly and indirectly affecting US interests, the US government’s response has been to bolster border security and support Mexican president Felipe Calderon administration’s efforts to break the cartels and strengthen the institutions of the Mexican state. This approach can be labeled as “contain and consolidate”—contain Mexico’s violence within that country while helping Mexico consolidate its government reforms to better combat corruption and tackle the cartels. The centerpiece of this approach is the multi-year, billion dollar Merida Initiative that was initiated in 2008 by the Bush Administration and re-authorized and expanded in 2010 by the Obama Administration. The Merida Initiative is at its core a joint security plan with four pillars: 1) Disrupting organized criminal groups; 2) institutionalizing the rule of law; 3) building a 21st century border; 4) building strong and resilient communities.
Download the Full Article:
Paul Rexton Kan is currently an Associate Professor of National Security Studies and the Henry L. Stimson Chair of Military Studies at the US Army War College. He is also the author of the book Drugs and Contemporary Warfare (Potomac Books 2009) and was recently the Visiting Senior Counternarcotics Advisor for CJIATF-Shafafiyat (Transparency) at ISAF Headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. He recently completed field research along the US-Mexico border for his forthcoming book, Cartels at War: Mexico's Drug Fueled Violence and the Threat to US National Security (Potomac Books).
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Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
This forum is a feed only and is closed to user comments.