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Latin America / Amérique latine

Agricultural Drug Economies: Cause or Alternative to Intra-State Conflicts?

Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy / 2007 / Crime, Law and Social Change.

Through case studies selected among the world’s main drug-producer countries and regions (Afghanistan, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Morocco, Peru, and West Africa) this paper depicts the global scene in order to improve understanding of how agricultural illicit drug economies may foster the emergence of intra-state conflicts, help prolong intra-state conflicts or, conversely, prevent some crises. The paper thereby examines the complex connections between agricultural illicit drug production and intra-state conflict in the all-important context of underdevelopment and globalisation.

Drug Trafficking

Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy / 2007 / The Encyclopedia of the Cold War.

The Cold War played a direct and prominent role in the production and trafficking of illicit drugs. Indeed, the financing of many anti-Communist covert operations, such as those led by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), resorted to the drug economy of various proxy states in which drug trafficking was often condoned and even encouraged. Specific historical cases illustrate how the anti-Communist agenda of the CIA played a decisive role in spurring the global illicit drug trade. These include the French Connection and the role of the Corsican mafia against Communists both in France and in Southeast Asia (Laos and Vietnam), the propping up of the defeated Chinese Nationalist Party (Guomindang) in northern Burma, the Islamic Mujahideen resistance in Afghanistan, and the Contras in Nicaragua.

Production de drogue et stabilité des Etats

Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy & Laurent Laniel / 2006.

La perception que nos Etats entretiennent de la sécurité s’élargit pour prendre en compte des menaces moins traditionnelles telles que le terrorisme, la prolifération, les trafics de personne et de marchandises illicites, dont les drogues. Les productions de drogues agricoles sont en effet, à la fois, à l’origine de ressources significatives mais illégales, pour des populations rurales très fragiles et, pour les pays vers lesquelles elles sont exportées, des menaces à leur sécurité. L’impact local des productions de drogues agricoles est moins connu, du moins en France. Ce sujet est pourtant important du point de vue de la stabilité de plusieurs Etats, voire de régions entières, comme en Amérique latine. Il se situe au croisement des études de sécurité et de développement et, de ce fait, n’est que peu suivi.

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