William L. Marcy
How did Mexico and Central America become a lawless corridor for conveying narcotics into the United States? How did the drug cartels rise to power, succeeding in institutionalizing the narco-industry? Why have the police and military failed to rein the cartels in? What have been the consequences of the US-led "war on drugs?" William Marcy's Narcostates provides answers to these questions and more.
Tracing the evolution of narcotrafficking across the region, and drawing on newly declassified documents, Marcy unravels the tangled web of violence, corruption, and political instability that has empowered drug trafficking organizations since the 1970s.
William L. Marcy is lecturer at Buffalo State University.
Also of interest:
The Mediterranean Connection: Criminal Networks and Illicit Economies in North Africa by Phil Williams, Jason M. Blazakis, and Colin P. Clarke
"An exciting read that manages to capture some of the most important history of cartels, violence and US counter-narcotics operations in Mexico and Central America.... Readers of Marcy's book will be poised to understand the history of various past efforts, and to detect whether the Trump administration is pushing for a new paradigm in security cooperation or treading old paths." —Ryan C. Berg, Survival
"A meticulously researched and compellingly argued contribution to the study of international drug trafficking, organized crime, state dysfunction, and international drug policy." —Carter F. Smith, International Criminal Justice Review
"Virtually an encyclopedic source to those interested in narco-trafficking and its modern history in Mexico and Central America."—Onur Ağkaya, Bulletin of Latin American Research
"The author masterfully pieces together and presents a comprehensive examination of the history and evolution of the war on drugs in the region and its inadvertent consequences.... Marcy's work is important and relevant." —Nilda M. Garcia, Latin American Politics and Society
"[A] valuable and insightful book." —Gavin O'Toole, Latin American Review of Books
"Rigorously researched and responsibly told, Narcostates is a wonderful, comprehensive overview of the relationship between governments and drug traffickers from the 1970s to the modern day." —Nathan P. Jones, Sam Houston State University
