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Small Wars & Insurgencies

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Cartels at war: Mexico's drug-

fueled violence and the threat
to US national security
a
Yelena Tuzova
a
School of Social Science, Policy, and Evaluation
Graduate University, Claremont, CA, USA
Published online: 27 Feb 2014.

To cite this article: Yelena Tuzova (2013) Cartels at war: Mexico's drug-fueled violence
and the threat to US national security, Small Wars & Insurgencies, 24:4, 769-770, DOI:
10.1080/09592318.2013.857953

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2013.857953

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 Small Wars & Insurgencies 769
The Waste Land, which itself is drawn from the Hindu fable in the Bridhadaranyaka
Unpanishad.

Dennis M. Rempe
Research Fellow University of Calgary-Center for Military and
Strategic Studies Calgary, AB, Canada
drempe@calcengineering.com
q 2014, Dennis M. Rempe
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2013.857952
Downloaded by [Heriot-Watt University] at 23:27 26 December 2014

Cartels at war: Mexicos drug-fueled violence and the threat to US national

security, by Paul Rexton Kan, Washington, DC, Potomac Books, 2012, 208 pp.,
bibliography, index, $19.87, ISBN 978-1-59-797707-4

Cartels at War is a refined analytical piece on the ongoing drug-fueled violence

in Mexico. Unlike politically motivated non-state actors, drug cartels seek
primarily to accumulate profit and control drug corridors. Yet this cannot be done
without engaging in methodologies familiar to any student of terrorism and
insurgency, notably the use of terror in the process of dominating human and
geographical terrain to the extent necessary to accomplish group goals.
In a hypercompetitive market with no legal arbiter or legitimate enforcer, all
transactions related to illegal markets are surrounded with gruesome violence.
Violence is used to ensure that the product is delivered to the buyer; to fight for
new cargo, routes, and territory; and to kill those who are in the way. Each year
gang cartels and drug lords spend billions of dollars to acquire new weaponry and
superior training to maintain dominance in the illicit market, enlarge their share
of the market, and compete over alternative routes.
As a consequence, many Mexican cities have recently witnessed a series of
horrific episodes of drug cruelty including dismemberment and beheadings. By
2008, there were more beheadings occurring in Mexico than in Iraq and
Afghanistan combined (p. 1).
Weak governance and political instability, limited economic opportunity, and
increased demand for illicit drugs have created a ripe environment for drug
trafficking organizations in Mexico. Americans spend $18 39 billion annually
on narcotics coming northward (p. 3); more than 1500 metric tons of marijuana,
15 metric tons of heroin, 200 metric tons of cocaine, and 20 metric tons of
methamphetamine are sent north to the US every year (p. 15). Since 2002, the
incidence of illegal drug use by Mexicans in their own country home has
increased by 50% (p. 15).
In an effort at mitigation and prevention, the Mexican government is actively
engaged in enforcing the rule of law. It is when the state confronts the cartels,
 770 Book Reviews
though, that war begins. The US effort to assist Mexico has been well
publicized and has had its share of successes at the tactical level. It is at the
strategic level, Kan argues, that the trillions of dollars spent to fight the illicit drug
and arms trade are meaningless. For as long as demand exists, the law of supply
and demand will dictate that there will always be someone willing to take the risk.
Consequently, the authors thoughtful policy recommendations focus on how
to avoid exacerbating the violence. He has made a significant contribution to the
existing literature.

Yelena Tuzova
School of Social Science, Policy, and Evaluation
Downloaded by [Heriot-Watt University] at 23:27 26 December 2014

Graduate University Claremont, CA, USA

yelena.tuzova@cgu.edu
q 2014 Yelena Tuzova
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09592318.2013.857953