The purpose of this monograph is to investigate the relationship and linkages between insurgencies and the illicit narcotics trade in general; to examine the specific root causes and influences on the drug trade and insurgencies in Colombia and...
This study investigates the operational aspects of counter-narcotics operations in the maritime domain. Research utilizes design methodology to assess the current and desired operating environments, as well as identify operational gaps. Research...
Narcotics trade is a major funding source for the insurgency in Afghanistan. Afghan law enforcement (LE) units target traffickers, processing labs, and drug caches to minimize this supply chain. These LE units are mentored by US Drug Enforcement...
This paper seeks to answer the question, “What role should the militaries of the US and their NATO allies play in the counter-narcotics effort in Afghanistan?” This monograph shows the United States (US) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization...
Since 2007, when President Felipe Calderon declared his government's war on the drug trafficking organizations operating in his country, the level of narcotics related violence has increased dramatically. The violence, which had been largely...
This monograph analyzes the possibility of the United States Military taking a direct role in the implementation of Plan Colombia. The analysis begins with an exploration of the background issues: the drug war as it relates to Colombia, the...
With the U.S. high domestic consumption of illicit drugs, a relationship has formed between transnational gangs and powerful Latin American drug cartels. The ineffectiveness of the war on drugs, along with the high cost of such a program, begs the...
The opium trade is a major funding source for the insurgency in Afghanistan. The Afghan counter-narcotics law enforcement agencies continue to target drug traffickers with counterdrug missions in order to break the funding source of the insurgents....
This thesis examines how effectively the United States implements its instruments of national power into the counterdrug efforts currently being conducted in Colombia. Discussion begins with a review of the threat that the illegal narcotics trade...
The recent escalation of violence between rival drug cartels, street gangs, and the government within Mexico has created a new and elevated level of concern for the population of the both the United States and Mexico. As the drug cartels continue...
This study analyzes the security assistance programs which support the President's Andean Initiative, as a part of his overall 'war on drugs.' The study describes the conditions in Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru which foster coca growing, and the...
Due to the parallels between Colombia and Afghanistan facing narcotic funded insurgencies, Colombia offers insights into Afghanistan's future. The monograph compares case studies of campaigns in Colombia and Afghanistan. These case studies locate...
Violence perpetrated by Mexican drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) increased dramatically in 2006 and continued to rise dramatically through early 2009. During this same period, Mexican DTO infiltration of U.S. cities skyrocketed. The increase...
The purpose of this paper is to examine the current drug war and to determine if an operational artist's approach to planning and problem solving is applicable for the United States in its war against drugs. This paper is significant because the...
The United States declared drugs to be a clear and present danger to the country and proceeded to wage a war on them that was both justified and temporarily successful from 1970 through 1990. Although not prepared for this mission at first, the...
The drug war has failed to achieve conditions that reduce the influence of illicit drugs abroad or at home. The National Drug Control Strategy is the U.S. President’s policy document that outlines the administration’s plan to reduce the...
In 1989 the Secretary of Defense directed that DoD would fully support the President's National Drug Strategy which identified the illegal trafficking of drugs as a matter of national security. To support that effort, the Army Counternarcotics Plan...
After the 11 September attack, the United States and the international community helped to create an Afghan government that can serve its people. 10 years later there are significant shortfalls in the performance of the Afghan government. As the...
Afghanistan supplies 87 percent of the global opium product, and terrorist organizations are using the narcotics trade to fund their operations. The nascent Afghani government has a limited capacity to combat this problem without significant...
Current predictions indicate that the most likely military peer opponent to the United States in the next century will be the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of the People's Republic of China (PRC). These predictions stem from areas of mutual...