In the shuffle of the post Cold War geopolitics of transnational threats, drug trafficking suddenly appeared as one of the new major threats to the world order. Yet the drug trade has undergone a long time-span evolution over several centuries. This challenge to regional security is all the more worrying, as it is far more complex and ambiguous, and as the threat itself is quite difficult to define precisely. Indeed, drug trade is in itself a convoluted part of the parallel world economy, but its definition overlaps that of weapons trafficking and guerrilla issues. The drug trade isn't an issue confined to sociological phenomena, or illegality. It spans over the global functioning of the economic and political spheres, and constitutes in itself a system which can be defined as the new geopolitics of drugs.
[...] The drug trade was seen as a profitable way to support economies which were weak and under threat of collapsing to either side of the confrontation. Examples are: clandestine drug trafficking flights protected by CIA operatives in Vietnam and during anti-sandisnist operations in the 80s, CIA's logistical support to drug traffickers in Burma, and Afghanistan conflict fueled by Pakistan's secret service through drug trade issues. In this situation, conflicts were often fueled by the drug trade, as the profits generated by the trafficking were in itself a stake for the opposing forces. [...]
[...] In the US alone, the figures explain the open war on drugs declared by successive governments since the end of the cold war ( 2.9 million Americans have used heroin; 23.7 million have used cocaine) Repression/conversion projects have largely failed: whole neighborhoods have become dependent on drug trade activities (American inner cities, French banlieues) Differences in regulations in Europe might significantly reduce the efficiency of any drug repression policy at the European level. Transit countries and organizations Mexico, Turkey, the Mediterranean and Pakistan are key elements in the development and repression of the drug trade: as a watershed for all trade routes used by drug dealers towards the European and American markets, their complacency towards drug dealing operations can compromise the effectiveness of any repression measures in consumer countries The arguments developed by some drug producing countries have been that: Although ‘northern” products are allowed (alcohol and tobacco) southern products are banned' (coca, poppy, cannabis derivates) The drug trade was spawned mostly by colonial powers exerting influence over colonized countries. [...]
[...] However, the economical stakes of drug production and trade soon led to conflicts which originated in drug issues, leading either to the control of the market (the two Chinese Opium Wars) or control over the territories linked to drug production. Lately, two even more complex links have developed: the link between drugs and weapons trafficking, and the use of drug trafficking issues to start wars or prolong conflicts. Thus, drug trade has managed to evolve into a complex network, following its own geopolitical dynamics, as can be seen in the use of coca by Spanish conquistadores, and more recently in the use of drug trade in the cold war and post cold war conflicts. [...]
[...] The eradication of opiates in some zones has resulted in a spectacular rise in drug consumption in some regions of ethnic minorities (hmong, karens). Populations which used to use drugs for medicinal and ritual functions were short of raw material, and had to buy heroin (an opiate, but far more concentrated than the forms used by the local minorities), which is far more addictive than opium. If the reconversion projects have largely failed, it is often because the real reason behind such endeavors is actually the better control of remote territories (which might be destabilized when infiltrated by foreign influences) by the central government, or assimilation of ethnic minorities. [...]
[...] The specificities of the drug trade Mafias, Regulations and State involvement A Mafia is a structured group sharing the control of the territory with institutional powers (in competition or cooperation) The archetype: Cosa Nostra Born during Italy's unification, it was squashed under Mussolini (most leaders fled to the US). It was the start of the mafias' ‘internationalization'. After the Second World War, mafiosis were rewarded for helping the US and OSS (pre-CIA), and which supported the nomination of mafiosis at the heads of communities. [...]
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