CIAO DATE: 03/2009

Troubled Neighbor: Mexico's Drug Violence Poses a Threat to the United States

February 2009

The Cato Institute

Abstract

While U.S. leaders have focused on actual or illusory security threats in distant regions, there is a troubling security problembrewingmuch closer to home. Violence inMexico,mostly related to the trade in illegal drugs, has risen sharply in recent years and shows signs of becoming even worse. That violence involves turf fights among the various drug-trafficking organizations as they seek to control access to the lucrative U.S. market. To an increasing extent, the violence also entails fighting between drug traffickers and Mexican military and police forces.

Resource link: Troubled Neighbor: Mexico's Drug Violence Poses a Threat to the United States [PDF] - 566K