Download or read book Colombian Labyrinth The Synergy of Drugs and Insurgency and Its Implications for Regional Stability written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drug trafficking and political disintegration in Colombia could confront the United States, if present trends continue, with the most serious foreign and security policy crisis in the Western Hemisphere since the Central American wars of the 1980s. The first question is why Colombia matters. U.S. policy toward Colombia has been driven to a large extent by counter-narcotics considerations, but the situation in that South American country is a national security as much as a drug policy problem. Colombia is a strategically important country. It is South America's fourth largest country in area and the second largest in population. It is the only South American country with coastlines on both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and it is contiguous to the Caribbean basin, Central America, Venezuela and its oil fields, and Panama and the Canal. Colombia also has some of the largest untapped petroleum reserves in the Western Hemisphere. Colombia's trajectory will also influence the direction of broader trends in the unstable Andean region and beyond.
Download or read book Colombian Labyrinth The Synergy of Drugs and Insurgency and Its Implications for Regional Stability written by and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 131 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drug trafficking and political disintegration in Colombia could confront the United States, if present trends continue, with the most serious foreign and security policy crisis in the Western Hemisphere since the Central American wars of the 1980s. The first question is why Colombia matters. U.S. policy toward Colombia has been driven to a large extent by counter-narcotics considerations, but the situation in that South American country is a national security as much as a drug policy problem. Colombia is a strategically important country. It is South America's fourth largest country in area and the second largest in population. It is the only South American country with coastlines on both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and it is contiguous to the Caribbean basin, Central America, Venezuela and its oil fields, and Panama and the Canal. Colombia also has some of the largest untapped petroleum reserves in the Western Hemisphere. Colombia's trajectory will also influence the direction of broader trends in the unstable Andean region and beyond.
Download or read book Colombian Labyrinth written by Angel Rabasa and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2001 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: U.S. policy toward Colombia has been driven to a large extent by counter-narcotics considerations, but the evolving situation in that South American country confronts the United States with as much of a national security as a drug policy problem. Colombia is a geostrategically important country, whose trajectory will influence broader trends in the Andean region and beyond. Colombian Labyrinth examines the sources of instability in the country; the objectives, strategy, strengths, and weaknesses of the government, guerrillas, and paramilitaries and the balances among them; and the effects of the current U.S. assistance program. Possible scenarios and futures for Colombia are laid out, with implications for both the United States and neighboring countries. The authors find that instability in Colombia stems from the interaction and synergies of the underground drug economy and armed challenges to the state's authority. Solutions to the core problem--the weakness of the Colombian State--must focus on resolving the broader set of political-military challenges that result from the convergence of drug trafficking and insurgency. The authors recommend that Colombia's military and institutional capabilities be improved to enable the Colombian government to regain control of the countryside and that, at the same time, the United States work with Colombia's neighbors to contain the risk of spillover and regional destabilization.
Download or read book Colombian Agency and the making of US Foreign Policy written by Alvaro Mendez and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-06-26 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book studies a significant event in US relations with Latin America, shedding light on the role of dependent states and their foreign policy agency in the process by which local concerns become intertwined with the dominant state’s foreign policy. Plan Colombia was a large-scale foreign aid programme through which the US intervened in the internal affairs of Colombia, by invitation. It proved to be one of the major successes of US foreign policy, and has been credited with stemming a potentially catastrophic security failure of the Colombian state. This book discusses the strategies and practices deployed by the Colombian government to influence US foreign policy decision making at the bureaucratic, legislative and executive levels, and is a distinctive contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of small power agency. Giving a clearer insight into the decision making processes in both the US and Colombia, this book founds its argument on solid empirical analysis assembled from interviews of the major players in the events including: Andres Pastrana, President of Colombia; Thomas Pickering, US State Department; Arturo Valenzuela, Senior Director for Inter-American Affairs at the NSA; General Barry McCaffrey, the US ‘Drug Czar’; and Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Approaching the events in question from a bottom-up theoretical perspective that puts the emphasis on the facts of the case, this book will be of great interest to academics, students and policy makers in the field of foreign policy analysis, US foreign policy studies, and Latin American studies.
Download or read book Money in the Bank written by Angel Rabasa and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2007 with total page 103 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As insurgent threats evolve and assume new forms, the United States must also evolve in its ability to counter potentially prolonged threats in several parts of the world. Because of the potential for global reach in contemporary insurgencies, the ability to draw on lessons learned from past counterinsurgency (COIN) campaigns using different historical cases can be valuable, helping current and future leaders prevent a repetition of mistakes and building a foundation on which to build contemporary responses. To this end, six historic COIN operations from the 19th and 20th centuries are examine.
Download or read book The Lockwood Analytical Method for Prediction LAMP written by Jonathan S. Lockwood and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2013-09-12 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Lockwood Analytical Method for Prediction (LAMP) is a systematic technique for predicting short-term, unique behaviors. Using primarily qualitative empirical data, LAMP allows the analyst to predict the most likely outcomes for specific research questions across a wide range of intelligence problems, such as cyber threats in the U.S., the possibility of an Al Qaeda attack, the likelihood of Iran providing nuclear capability to terrorist groups, or the future actions of the Mexican drug cartel. LAMP offers an innovative and powerful method for organizing all available information based on the perceptions of the national actors, using it to make relevant predictions as to which alternate future is most likely to occur at a given moment in time. Its transparent structure enables anyone to see how an analyst gets from point A to point B to produce an intelligence estimate. LAMP differs from other analytical techniques in that it is based on determining the relative probability of a range of alternate futures, rather than attempting to determine the quantitative probability of their occurrence. After explaining its theoretical framework, the text leads the reader through the process of predictive analysis before providing practical case studies showing how LAMP is applied against real world problems, such as the possible responses of Israel, the U.S., and Lebanon to the behavior of Hezbollah or the competing visions of the future of Afghanistan. Evaluation of the method is provided with the case studies to show the effectiveness of the LAMP predictions over time. The book is complemented by a website with downloadable software for use by students of intelligence in conducting their own predictive analysis. It will be an essential tool for the analyst and the student, not only for national security issues but also for competitive intelligence.
Download or read book Understanding Security Practices in South Asia written by Monika Barthwal-Datta and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-05-04 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the ways in which non-state actors (NSAs) in South Asia are involved in securitizing non-traditional security challenges in the region at the sub-state level. South Asia is the epicentre of some of the most significant international security challenges today. Yet, the complexities of the region’s security dynamics remain under-researched. While traditional security issues, such as inter-state war, border disputes and the threat of nuclear devastation in South Asia, remain high on the agendas of policy-makers and academics both within and beyond the region, scant attention has been paid to non-traditional or ‘new’ security challenges. Drawing on various case studies, this work offers an innovative analysis of how NSAs in South Asia are shaping security discourses in the region and tackling security challenges at the sub-state level. Through its critique of securitization theory, the book calls for a new approach to studying security practices in South Asia – one which considers NSAs as legitimate security actors. This book will be of much interest to students of security studies, Asian security, Asian politics, critical security studies, and IR in general.
Download or read book Bad Neighbor Policy written by Ted Galen Carpenter and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2003-02 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The domestic phase of Washington's war on drugs has received considerable criticism over the years from Milton Friedman, William F. Buckley, Kurt Schmoke, and other luminaries who have catalogued the destructive effects on American society. More recent converts such as New Mexico Governer Gary Johnson do the same. However, most critics have not stressed the damage that the international phase of the drug war has done to our Latin American neighbours. That lack of attention has begun to change, and there has been some disenchantment with the hemispheric drug war. Some prominent Latin American political leaders have finally dared to criticize Washington's actions and even hint that the option of legalization should be considered. At the same time, the US government seems determined to perpetuate, if not intensify, the antidrug crusade. The $1.3 billion military aid package to Colombia approved by Congress in the summer of 2000 confirms that the international phase of the campaign against drugs still has powerful support. Spending on federal antidrug measures also continues to increase, and the tactics employed by drug war bureaucracy, both here and abroad bring the inflammatory "drug war" metaphor closer to reality. Ending the prohibitionist system would produce numerous benefits for both Latin American societies and the United States.
Download or read book Terrorism in Perspective written by Sue Mahan and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2012-11-21 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Third Edition of Terrorism in Perspective, like its two successful predecessors, takes a broad-based approach that emphasizes the historical, cultural, political, religious, social, and economic factors that underlie an understanding of both global and domestic terrorism. This unique text-reader combines original essays with the best of the existing literature on terrorism. Each chapter of this text begins with an overview essay written by the authors, followed by two relevant and engaging articles culled from a wide variety of popular, academic, and governmental sources. This is the only major terrorism text to incorporate readings from top terrorism experts into a traditional textbook format, allowing readers to deepen their understanding of each aspect of terrorism.
Download or read book Intersections of Crime and Terror written by James J.F. Forest and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-13 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the last ten years an increasing number of government and media reports, scholarly books and journal articles, and other publications have focused our attention on the expanded range of interactions between international organized crime and terrorist networks. A majority of these interactions have been in the form of temporary organizational alliances (or customer-supplier relationships) surrounding a specific type of transaction or resource exchange, like document fraud or smuggling humans, drugs or weapons across a particular border. The environment in which terrorists and criminals operate is also a central theme of this literature. These research trends suggest the salience of this book which addresses how organized criminal and terrorist networks collaborate, share knowledge and learn from each other in ways that expand their operational capabilities. The book contains broad conceptual pieces, historical analyses, and case studies that highlight different facets of the intersection between crime and terrorism. These chapters collectively help us to identify and appreciate a variety of dynamics at the individual, organizational, and contextual levels. These dynamics, in turn, inform a deeper understanding of the security threat posted by terrorists and criminal networks and how to respond more effectively. This book was published as a special issue of Terrorism and Political Violence.
Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Colombia written by Harvey F. Kline and published by Scarecrow Press. This book was released on 2012-06-01 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Historical Dictionary of Colombia covers the history of Colombia through a chronology, an introductory essay, appendixes, and a bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1,000 cross-referenced entries on important personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Colombia.
Download or read book Evil Hour in Colombia written by Forrest Hylton and published by Verso. This book was released on 2006 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most up-to-date book on Colombia: from the mid-19th century to today's guerrilla narco-traffickers and paramilitaries.
Download or read book Global Economic Governance and Human Development written by Simone Raudino and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-11-01 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traditional understandings of economic development in low- and mid-income countries have largely been influenced by the economic narrative of Western Official Development Assistance (ODA). Within this framework, compliance with macroeconomic orthodoxy and early integration in Global Economic Governance (GEG) regimes are presented as enabling conditions to reach enhanced and sustainable levels of economic growth and social betterment. Yet, this narrative often fails to answer fundamental questions surrounding relational dynamics between the economies of ODA beneficiary countries and the GEG regimes they are asked to join. Bringing together contributions by Government officials, academics and development practitioners, this edited volume explores quantitative and qualitative approaches to socio-economic analysis in low- and mid-income countries, highlighting the conditions under which international economic policies and institutions can foster – or hinder – their socio-economic growth. In particular, contributions address the impact of both West and China-inspired international economic regimes on value-adding capacity, trade, investments, job creation and social development, thus advancing the debate on what policy and legal provisions should low- and mid-income countries adopt in order to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs deriving from joining international economic regimes. A comprehensive investigation of both sides of the Global Economic Governance and Human Development relationship; this book will interest scholars, practitioners and graduate students working in the areas of international relations, international political economy, global governance, international economics, development studies and human security.
Download or read book Cocaine Death Squads and the War on Terror written by Oliver Villar and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2014-05-14 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the late 1990s, the United States has funneled billions of dollars in aid to Colombia, ostensibly to combat the illicit drug trade and State Department-designated terrorist groups. The result has been a spiral of violence that continues to take lives and destabilize Colombian society. This book asks an obvious question: are the official reasons given for the wars on drugs and terror in Colombia plausible, or are there other, deeper factors at work? Scholars Villar and Cottle suggest that the answers lie in a close examination of the cocaine trade, particularly its class dimensions. Their analysis reveals that this trade has fueled extensive economic growth and led to the development of a "narco-state" under the control of a "narco-bourgeoisie" which is not interested in eradicating cocaine but in gaining a monopoly over its production. The principal target of this effort is the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who challenge that monopoly as well as the very existence of the Colombian state. Meanwhile, U.S. business interests likewise gain from the cocaine trade and seek to maintain a dominant, imperialist relationship with their most important client state in Latin America. Suffering the brutal consequences, as always, are the peasants and workers of Colombia. This revelatory book punctures the official propaganda and shows the class war underpinning the politics of the Colombian cocaine trade.
Download or read book State Theory and Andean Politics written by Christopher Krupa and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2015-04-14 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the last few decades, Andean states have seen major restructuring of the organization, leadership, and reach of their governments. With these political tremors come major aftershocks, regarding both definitions and expectations: What is a state? Who or what makes it up, and where does it reside? In what capacity can the state be expected to right wrongs, raise people up, protect them from harm, maintain order, or provide public services? What are its powers and responsibilities? State Theory and Andean Politics attempts to answer these questions and more through an examination of the ongoing process of state-creation in Andean nations. Focusing on the everyday, extra-official, and frequently invisible or partially concealed permutations of rule in the lives of Andean people, the essays explore the material and cultural processes by which states come to appear as real and tangible parts of everyday life. In particular, they focus on the critical role of emotion, imagination, and fantasy in generating belief in the state, among the governed and the governing alike. This approach pushes beyond the limits of the state as conventionally understood to consider how "non-state" acts of governance intersect with official institutions of government, while never being entirely determined by them or bound to their authorizing agendas. State Theory and Andean Politics asserts that the state is not simply an institutional-bureaucratic apparatus but one of many forces vying for a claim to legitimate political dominion. Featuring an impressive array of Andeanist scholars as well as eminent state theorists Akhil Gupta and Gyanendra Pandey, State Theory and Andean Politics makes a bold and novel claim about the nature of states and state-making that deepens understanding not only of the Andes and Global South but of the world at large. Contributors: Kim Clark, Nicole Fabricant, Lesley Gill, Akhil Gupta, Christopher Krupa, David Nugent, Gyanendra Pandey, Mercedes Prieto, Maria Clemencia Ramírez, Irene Silverblatt, Karen Spalding, Winifred Tate.
Download or read book From Terrorism to Politics written by Anisseh Van Engeland and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-22 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do terrorists become politicians? This book embraces a series of comparative case studies in order to examine important issues regarding the relationship between terrorism and political processes. It identifies the characteristics necessary for the transition from a 'terrorist' organization to a political party and situates this within broader debates about substantive ethical concerns motivating the distinction between legitimate politics and illegitimate violence. The volume offers a presentation of how some terrorist groups see the world in which they live. It also provides an understanding of how established democracies such as the US react to the phenomenon of the terrorist-politician transition. This is a useful resource for students and scholars of international relations, political ethics and comparative politics.
Download or read book The Nexus written by Frank Shanty and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2011-03-03 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This timely and important work offers an in-depth analysis of the existence—or nonexistence—of a nexus between international terrorism and drug trafficking emanating from Afghanistan. The Nexus: International Terrorism and Drug Trafficking from Afghanistan addresses an issue that directly impacts the prospects for resolution of the current insurgency in that nation. Written by noted terrorism expert Frank Shanty, the book explores the nature and the extent of involvement between international criminal drug traffickers, particularly of drugs originating from Afghanistan, and international terrorist networks with global reach. Shanty dispels the myths and disinformation surrounding this vital—and controversial—question, even as he arrives at his own answers. In addition to offering a historical overview of the opium problem in Afghanistan from the late 1970s to 2010, the book looks at three distinct phenomena. It examines the existence, characteristics, and behavior of international terrorists operating from Afghanistan, specifically the evolution and ascendancy of al-Qaeda and the Taliban and the nature of their relationship. It looks at Afghanistan's opium trade relative to specific-actor involvement and, finally, it analyzes allegations of a link between terrorists in Afghanistan and international drug criminals and the implications of that connection.
