Mexico’s struggle with organized crime has consumed much of the policy agenda in the administrations of Felipe Calderón and now, Enrique Peña Nieto. Academics and policy analysts looking beyond the battles with high-level organized crime groups have identified street gangs in Mexico as a potential looming security threat. After conducting interviews with gang experts in Mexico, I discovered that security-centric responses often exacerbate the problem. Mexico would be better served by a long-term development and human rights-oriented strategy to address the problem of youths in gangs ..read more

The expression “perception is reality” has been used in a wide variety of situations, from marital infidelity to psychological operations during wartime. As unfair or unjust as that expression seems to some people, far too often it’s the truth — and Mexico’s drug war is no exception ..read more

In the third of a six-part Baker Institute Viewpoints series, experts respond to the question: What are the implications of expanding border security? Civil libertarians are already expressing alarm about increasing domestic surveillance capabilities at the border. This concern gestures toward a broader fear that contemporary threats to national security, particularly terror threats, have distorted the historical legal grounds that protect U.S. citizens from government surveillance and data collection. In actuality, if there is one area where the law provides well-recognized and expansive just ..read more

In the fifth of a six-part Baker Institute Viewpoints series, experts respond to the question: What are the implications of expanding border security? Investments in border security must be carefully calibrated in order to effectively regulate international flows of people and goods. An increase in spending alone will not necessarily improve control of the border. Rather, any increase in spending must prioritize effective security processes that facilitate legitimate flows and economic exchange across the border. To most people, the border is a frontier that must be hermetically sealed to ward ..read more

In the sixth of a seven-part Baker Institute Viewpoints series, we evaluate the impact that a new wave of civil unrest will have on international politics. Despite its proximity in time and location, the protests in Turkey were not just a late continuation of the Arab Spring. Unlike her neighbors that suffered staggering unemployment under the decades-long rule of dictators pre-Arab Spring, Turkey’s economy thrives under a prime minister who, by all international accounts, freely and fairly won his last three elections — most recently by a landslide. In fact, many domestic and foreign scholars ..read more

In the final post of a seven-part Baker Institute Viewpoints series, we evaluate the impact that a new wave of civil unrest will have on international politics. Interim Egyptian President Adly Mansour, the military-backed civilian leader who formerly headed the country’s judiciary, only recently finished putting together a new government. However, the original coalition that had pushed for the overthrow of President Muhammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood-supported government has begun peeling apart, with some criticizing powers set aside by the military for the new president. Moreover, the ..read more

The results on Tuesday are a sign that marijuana prohibition’s days are numbered, leaving only the question of when it will end completely. Chipping away at marijuana prohibition is also crucial to ending the war on drugs, which has had devastating consequences, not least of which are the racial disparities it has created in the criminal justice system ..read more

Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzman’s extradition could be handled differently from other past major kingpin extraditions, which were typically conducted via airplane and airports. At any time, Guzman simply could be driven across the border in the middle of the night to El Paso where he could also stand trial, making Texas a one-stop shop for both his extradition and the first of many potential trials ..read more

In the third of a seven-part Baker Institute Viewpoints series, we evaluate the impact that a new wave of civil unrest will have on international politics. Turkey, Brazil, then Egypt: Once again, discontent has led to major popular protest — and, in the case of Egypt, the removal of a democratically elected leader and replacement by a military-backed interim government. And just as before, the Internet and social media have served as a facilitator of these movements ..read more

The corruption that allowed for "El Chapo Guzman" to again walk free is another devastatingly sad example of a public safety system that is controlled by organized crime and that continues to falter and ruin under the Enrique Peña Nieto administration ..read more