Columbia International Affairs Online: Working Papers

CIAO DATE: 09/2009

Gangs, Drugs, Terrorism— and Information-sharing

Greg Gardner, Robert Killebrew

August 2009

Academy of Political Science

Abstract

The conflict in Mexico between the government and criminal drug cartels has been in the news lately, particularly because of the horrific levels of violence and its proximity to our border. The U.S. Government is increasingly concerned, and President Barack Obama has turned to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for options to provide timely support to Mexico. But the “cartel war” in Mexico, which is increasingly spilling into the United States, is just the latest, most visible indicator of steadily deteriorating civil order south of the border.