Mexico is not Colombia : : alternative historical analogies for responding to the challenge of violent drug-trafficking organizations / / Christopher Paul, Colin P. Clarke, Chad C. Serena.

• Author: Rand Corporation.
• VerfasserIn: Paul, Christopher, 1971-; Clarke, Colin P.,; Serena, Chad C.,
• TeilnehmendeR: Clarke, Colin P.,; Serena, Chad C.,; Rand Corporation.
• Place / Publishing House: Santa Monica, California : : RAND,, 2014.; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (191 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

Despite the scope of the threat they pose to Mexico's security, violent drug-trafficking organizations are not well understood, and optimal strategies to combat them have not been identified. While there is no perfectly analogous case from history, Mexico stands to benefit from historical lessons and efforts that were correlated with improvement in countries facing similar challenges related to violence and corruption.

Table of Contents

Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Preface; Contents; Figures; Tables; Summary; Acknowledgments; Abbreviations; CHAPTER ONE: Introduction; Approach; Finding the Right Comparisons; Labeling the Perpetrators and the Implications Thereof; Benefits of This Approach; Organization of This Report; CHAPTER TWO: Contemporary Violence and the Broader Context in Mexico; Two Mexicos; Conflict and Violence in Mexico; Explaining the Outbreak of Violence; The Violent Drug-Trafficking Organizations; Efforts to Improve the Situation; Key Features of the Mexican Context; Security Forces and Organization

Government and GovernanceCivil Society; Economy; CHAPTER THREE: Finding the Right Comparisons: Case Selection; CHAPTER FOUR: Comparing Mexico with the Challenges Faced and the Outcomes Reached in the Historical Cases; Challenge A: Violence; Challenge B: "Anomic" Violence or Indiscriminate Mayhem/Indiscriminate Violence; Challenge C: Insurgency/Competition for State Control; Challenge D: Ethnically Motivated Violence; Challenge E: Lack of Economic Opportunities; Challenge F: High Level of Weapon Availability; Challenge G: Competition over a Resource; Challenge H: Ungoverned Spaces

Challenge I: State/Institutional WeaknessChallenge J: Patronage/Corruption; Efforts Correlated with Improvement in the Historical Cases; Chicken or Egg? Correlation and Causation in Meeting Challenges; Confirmation in the Detailed Narratives; CHAPTER FIVE: Conclusions and Recommendations; Mexico Is Not Colombia, Nor Is It Any of These Other Cases; Lessons Highlighted in the Case Narratives; Confirmed Correlations in the Case Studies; Recommendations from the Literature and Historical Case Studies; Ways to Combat the VDTOs; Leverage the Law of Supply and Demand; Other Proposed Solutions

Recommendations for MexicoReferences