Re-framing the United States/Mexico border violence situation : strategic campaign planning in action.

This paper argues that to counter border spillover violence, America must control the border with Mexico and generate the public and political commitment to do so. This study applies a military problem solving methodology to identify how best to counter spillover violence. The methodology, which is described in a student text at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, enables the author to sift through the data of six prominent, recent studies which address the U.S.-Mexico drug problem. The conclusions and emphasis that arise from the methodology discern that border control, which is downplayed in the six prominent studies, should be--in fact--the U.S. government's critical focus.