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This chapter examines drug trafficking and organized crime in Mexico. It begins with a history of drug trafficking and how it has evolved over time. It focuses on the 71-year rule by a single political party and the transition to democracy in 2000, which had an impact on the relationship between the state and organized crime. This chapter then examines Felipe Calderon’s war on drugs and the Merida Initiative, a U.S.-funded plan, to help the Mexican government combat drug trafficking and organized crime. It then examines recent trends in drug trafficking, organized crime, and counternarcotic policies, focusing on the Pena Nieto and Lopez Obrador governments. It examines opium production and the evolution of organized crime in the State of Guerrero. Finally, this chapter analyzes the impact of the Coronavirus on organized crime and the challenges combating corruption and impunity.

This chapter focuses on the issue of drug addiction as well as the trafficking of drugs through Mexico en route to the United States. It begins with an examination of OxyContin and the Sackler family. It focuses on the role that marketing played in the opioid crisis in the United States. This chapter also provides stories of addiction, focusing on the real-world impact that the opioid epidemic has had on people. It then turns to the case of fentanyl and Philadelphia, analyzing not only drug trafficking but also alternative policies, such as safe injection sites. Finally, it explains how drugs are trafficked through the border from Mexico.

This chapter examines the cases of Mexico and Central America. It begins with an analysis of the issues of drug trafficking and organized crime in Mexico, which have contributed to the high levels of corruption and violence within the country. The chapter focuses on President Felipe Calderon’s drug war and the consequences of such policies. It examines the underlying structural problems, focusing on the high levels of corruption and impunity that the country faces. The chapter also assesses the challenges that Mexico will likely continue to face in the future and the impact on regional security. It then turns to corruption and organized crime in Central America, focusing on the major trends in El Salvador and Honduras. It highlights the issue of immigration, focusing on the major trends as well as the current policies of the Trump administration.

This chapter underscores the importance of institutions, specifically the constitution, on certain fragile Latin America countries and Lebanon. The political culture in these areas encourage constitutional ineffectiveness, whether the executive branch of government manipulates it to protect itself like in Latin America, or, a static, unwritten agreement that solidifies the power of patronage and clientelism as in Lebanon. The end result is the same in these cases: the inability of the state to encourage economic development and progress.

This chapter illustrates the explanatory power of our theory expounded on in Chapters 2 and 3. It explains the proliferation of corruption, illicit trafficking, and terrorism in Central Asia and the Middle East. Beginning in Afghanistan, narcotics trafficking spreads through corruption as traffickers attempt to get their goods to market. Culture plays an important role in the spread of corruption, and this chapter takes time to illustrate this, especially in the Middle East. Thus, dealing with corruption increases in complexity, given the embedded normative system of the region.

This chapter looks at the global power of the Russian mafia, tracing its roots and its success in the post-Cold War system. Corruption became endemic in the 1980s, when organized criminal groups anticipated the end of the Soviet Union. The institutional weakness of the new state of Russia and the power of Russian oligarchs created the perfect storm for the mafia as well as extra-judicial practice. This chapter also discusses the Putin regime and its use of corruption as a lever of power.

This chapter provides the book with a theoretical framework applied to cases. It explores contemporary conceptualizations of fragility, corruption, and institution building. Building on previously established literature, the chapter explores why domestic institutions matter to international stability, as corruption tends to spread from weaker states to regional locations.

This chapter concludes the volume with a discussion about the issue of reforming major institutions. It begins with a discussion of the police and the different measures that have been taken to reform the police in various cases. Next, it turns to the issue of the penitentiary system, which requires serious reforms. Some prisons in cases studied in this volume have major issues with overcrowding. Moreover, some prisons, such as in El Salvador and Mexico, have functioned as schools of crime where criminal groups have organized. The chapter then explores the issue of judicial reform. Many countries seeking to combat the high levels of corruption and impunity require judicial reforms. It focuses on the reforms that have occurred in Mexico and highlights some of the major challenges. Moreover, it finishes with an examination of the role of international institutions in helping countries reform their judiciary system.

This chapter focuses on the global superstructure and states that facilitate demand and supply. Looking specifically at weak and fragile states of the international system, the chapter illustrates the role of corruption, underdevelopment, and political/institutional weakness that enable global crime and violence. Some fragile states produce the goods and services (e.g., drugs) that are then marketed and ultimately sold to other countries. This means the United States and states of the European Union are the target of illicit suppliers; and as long as people in those states demand those goods, organized criminal networks will thrive. The chapter encourages more coordination through already established regimes like Interpol.

As long as certain commodities and services are deemed illegal by the state, illicit markets will exist if there is significant demand for them. Prohibition gives illicit materials a higher price, as risk-takers form cartels and indulge in criminal operations to make as much money as possible. This has been true throughout history in most corners of the world. This chapter will discuss moments in history when the state tried to ban certain goods for the purpose of morality. Most of the time, the result has been the formation of black markets to supply the good.

This chapter examines immigration and border security. It begins with a historical overview of immigration trends. The chapter then highlights some of the recent tendencies and policies in immigration and border security. The work highlights deportation policies, particularly during the Bush and Obama administrations. The chapter also examines politicians’ opinions about immigration and border security, focusing on the key statements made by leading politicians from both political parties. The last section concludes with American public opinion about border security and immigration.

The chapter begins with an examination of some general trends and data on suicide terrorism. It highlights US foreign policy after the events of September 11, 2001. The chapter examines the major differences between the Bush and Obama administrations with regard to combatting terrorism and violent extremism. Next, the chapter focuses on the threat of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). This work concludes with an examination of the Obama administration’s strategy for combatting violent extremism and highlights the discourse of leading politicians regarding this issue.

The US “war on drugs” has focused mainly on stopping the supply of drugs from entering the US from other countries. As a result, the US has spent billions of dollars on initiatives such as Plan Colombia and the Merida Initiative, designed to curb drug trafficking from other countries.1 The focus on stopping the supply of drugs fails to address many of the underlying socioeconomic issues. One of the most important issues that needs to be addressed today and which is intricately related to the war on drugs is prison reform. The US continues to incarcerate millions of people—over 100,00iV’ were convicted on drug-related offenses—at an alarmingly high cost. This chapter will analyze why prison reform is so desperately needed and what the main obstacles are for reforming prisons in the US by looking at the growing incarceration rates, the cost of housing prisoners, racial disparities in sentencing, the challenges to changing the current system, and finally possible solutions and conclusions. We use the prison system in California as a case study and examine some of the alternative programs that have been implemented due to the high cost of incarceration.