Sovereignty under siege: drug trafficking and state capacity in the Caribbean and Central America
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Authors
King, Ryan Thomas
Subjects
vulnerable states
stable states
narco-state
under siege
state capacity
drug trafficking pressures
drug trafficking organizations (DTO)
state legitimacy
impacts
Caribbean
Central America
Haiti
Bahamas
Nicaragua
Guatemala
stable states
narco-state
under siege
state capacity
drug trafficking pressures
drug trafficking organizations (DTO)
state legitimacy
impacts
Caribbean
Central America
Haiti
Bahamas
Nicaragua
Guatemala
Advisors
Esparza, Diego
Date of Issue
2016-06
Date
Jun-16
Publisher
Monterey, California: Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
Drug trafficking organizations have increased their prominence throughout the Caribbean and Central America. These organizations undermine the rule of law, increase levels of violence and corruption, and hamper development, all of which can weaken a state. Weak or failing states become domestic and regional burdens that spill over into neighboring countries and cause secondary and tertiary problems. This thesis examines causes for different state capacities in the Caribbean and Central America through case study comparisons between Haiti, the Bahamas, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. The varying state capacities' interaction with similar drug trafficking pressures accounts for different state legitimacy statuses. Haiti's institutional and ideological influences account for its low state capacity (SC) as compared to the Bahamas. Policy decisions to improve security forces' (SECFOR) state capacity and cooperate with U.S. counternarcotic operations result in the Bahamas' higher SC. Nicaragua and Guatemala's transitions to democracy have resulted in different SECFOR capacities. Nicaragua chose to improve its SECFOR and currently receives assistance from the United States to combat drug trafficking. In contrast, Guatemala institutionalized a corrupt and ineffective SECFOR during its transition to peace. Both regional comparisons prove that SC is a choice. Understanding this relationship can guide domestic and international policy incentives or directives to assist countries in a narco or under siege state legitimacy status.
Type
Thesis
Description
Series/Report No
Department
National Security Affairs
Organization
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NPS Report Number
Sponsors
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Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.