Drug Trafficking and International Security

by Paul Rexton Kan

Global drug trafficking intersects with a vast array of international security issues ranging from war and terrorism to migration and state stability. More than just another item on the international security agenda, drug trafficking in fact exacerbates threats to national and international security. In this light, the book argues that global drug trafficking should not be treated as one international security issue among many. Rather, due to the unique nature of the trade, illegal drugs have made key threats to national and international security more complex, durable, and acute. Drug trafficking therefore makes traditional understandings of international security inadequate.

Each chapter examines how drug trafficking affects a particular security issue, such as rogue nations, weak and failing states, protracted intrastate conflicts, terrorism, transnational crime, public health, and cyber security. While some texts see drug trafficking as an international threat in itself, others place it under the topic of transnational organized crime, arguing that the threats emanate from criminal groups. This book, on the other hand, provides a thorough understanding of how a vast array of threats to international security are exacerbated by drug trafficking.

236 pages, Hardcover

Published July 18, 2016

About the author

Dr. Paul Rexton Kan is currently an Associate Professor of National Security Studies at the US Army War College at Carlisle Barracks. He was awarded the General George C. Marshall Faculty Research Grant to complete his book, Drugs and Contemporary Warfare. He is also the recipient of a Madigan Faculty Writing Award for his article, "Drugging Babylon: The Illegal Narcotics Trade and Nation-Building in Iraq" published in the June 2007 edition of the journal Small Wars and Insurgencies. His research on Mexican cartel violence will be part of an upcoming book on the subject while his research on North Korea's illicit international activities will be published as a monograph by the Strategic Studies Institute. He is currently working on his next book, "Whiskey Rebellions, Opium Wars and Other Battles for Intoxication".