A threat to security, that continues to grow ever since the beginning of the twentieth century, is that of drugs and national and international crime that is directly linked to it. The U.S. government is actively implementing policies of fighting illegal drug trafficking and use both nationally and internationally. The cooperation in this matter between Mexico, the main gate for illicit drugs from Latin America and the U.S. is vital. The U.S. President approved in 2007 the list of major illicit drug producing or trafficking countries that was to be submitted to the U.S. Congress in 2008. Among the major players in the field of illicit drugs were: Afghanistan, the Bahamas, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru. Meanwhile, Europe came under...
Ethnic and regional conflicts are rather old, just as the illicit drug producing and trafficking is nothing new. but, the
global warming due to aggressive urbanizing and stark industrialization, the
attack of viruses like HIV, the ones that cause bird flu or
swine flu, alongside with old ones that were believed to have been eradicated, are produced by all kinds of new sources.
Poverty, illiteracy and corrupt governments are the main causes for international piracy, spread of epidemics, high mortality rates and the
extinction of entire populations due to the lack of fresh water and starvation. International cooperation confronts new and more complex challenges that although not insurmountable, require immediate attention and action. Although individual action is welcome under any circumstances, globalization has made individual efforts alone rather futile. More than ever, the future in preventing security risks rests on the cooperation between nations.
Apostolidis, Paul. 2005. Whitman College. Hegemony and Hamburger: Migration Narratives and Democratic Unionism among Mexican Meatpackers in the U.S. West . Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 58, No. 4 (Dec., 2005), pp. 647-658
Sekilich, Daniel. 2009. Terror on the Seas: True Tales of Modern-Day Pirates. Macmillan the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. 2007. (accesed: Aug 23, 2009. Available at: http://armscontrolcenter.org/policy/nonproliferation/?gclid=CPWetM2jvZwCFc5L5Qod0zO2ng
World at
Risk. A Global Issues Sourcebook CQ Press. A Division of Congressional Quarterly Inc. 2002
ONDCP. Certification for Major Illicit Drugs Producing and Transit Countries. Available at: http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/international/factsht/cert_major_illct.html. (accessed Aug 22, 2009)