From Contraband to Conflict: Links between Smuggling and Violence in the Borderlands of Meso-America and North Africa
Herbert, Matthew Monette.
2019
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In the wake of the Cold War, the global illicit economy surged.
Contraband commodity chains now cross borders, nations, and sometimes continents.
Smuggling is mainly a peaceful pursuit, conducted by large numbers of men, women,
and children, each of whom earns only limited rewards for their efforts. Rather
than seeking to end the contraband trade, government officials often seek to
profit from ... read moreit. However, in a small number of instances, smuggling has transformed
into something far more violent and dangerous. Tens of thousands have been killed
in "crime wars" in Mexico and Central America over the last twenty years,
conflicts that frequently mirror civil wars in their intensity and transgressive
use of violence. At other points across the globe, similar conflicts linked to
smuggling percolate. This investigation represents an effort to analyze and
understand how and why smuggling ecosystems that have been peaceful and controlled
transform into situations of violent conflict. The investigation builds a new
theory by modifying theoretic tools developed to explain the impact of primary
commodity extraction and applies it to smuggled goods in transit. It utilizes a
diverse range of case studies, including the U.S.-Mexico, Mexico-Guatemala,
Tunisia-Algeria, and Algeria-Morocco borders.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2019.
Submitted to the Dept. of Diplomacy, History, and Politics.
Advisor: Richard Shultz.
Committee: Bhaskar Chakravorti, and Paul Kan.
Keyword: International relations.read less - ID:
- dj52wh91b
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