The "Oceans 11" of Cyber Strikes
There is perhaps no contemporary security policy issue that is as important, but so poorly understood, as cybersecurity. A major part of the problem is a simple lack of familiarity with the most basic...
View ArticleA Bill that Cracks Down on Russian Corruption
The House Foreign Affairs Committee is scheduled today to take up the most consequential piece of legislation in years related to Russia: the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012....
View ArticleAurora and the U.S. Obsession with Guns: Leadership Wanted to Fight Political...
The terrifying massacre during last Thursday’s midnight premiere of “Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colorado, is yet another reminder that guns kill many. It is also a reminder that American politicians...
View ArticleSolving the Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime Problem Without Greater...
Editor's Note: This article was originally published byThe World Today Magazine.How to solve the problem without generating even greater violencePolicies that focus on suppressing drug flows are often...
View ArticleWould Another Peace Accord Help Central America?
Editor's Note: This commentary was originally published in the Inter-American Dialogue's Latin America Advisor on August 27, 2012.Aug. 7 marked the 25th anniversary of the Esquipulas II Peace Accords,...
View ArticleLegal Marijuana? New Domestic and International Initiatives Challenge the...
Event InformationOctober 3, 20123:00 PM - 5:00 PM EDTFalk AuditoriumBrookings Institution1775 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington, DC 20036Register for the EventMarijuana is the most commonly used...
View ArticleWhat Legacy Does Felipe Calderón Leave in Mexico?
Felipe Calderón's achievements, such as they are, will be quickly overshadowed by his legacy of a failed strategy in the fight against organized crime and the drug cartels, an unfulfilled pledge to...
View ArticleIs the Immigration of Korean Sex Workers to the United States Sex Trafficking...
The United States is one of the most popular destinations for immigrants throughout the world, and a number of illegal immigrants now live in the United States under various conditions. Indeed,...
View ArticlePolitical Violence and the Illicit Economies of West Africa
Editor's note: For the full article and most updated version, see Terrorism and Political Violence, 24:787-806, 2012. Read the introduction and recommendations below.Introduction:The interactions...
View ArticleTransnational Organized Crime: Whither Antidrug Policy?
Editor's note: In an interview with Ania Calderón of the Journal of International Affairs(Vol. 66, No. 1, Fall/Winter 2012 page 169) Vanda Felbab-Brown analyzes the unprecedented pace at which the...
View ArticleThe Connecticut Shootings: Now is the Time for a Debate over Gun Control
I understand and share President Obama’s concerns for the victims of today’s tragic school shootings in Connecticut and their families. But I am troubled by White House spokesman Jay Carney’s...
View ArticleWashington vs. Washington (and Colorado): Who Should Decide About Marijuana?
Event InformationJanuary 8, 20132:00 PM - 3:30 PM ESTSaul/Zilkha RoomsBrookings Institution1775 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington, DC 20036Register for the EventThis program was broadcast live on...
View ArticleIndonesia Field Report I - Crime as a Mirror of Politics: Urban Gangs in...
Gang Truce in Indonesia … and El Salvador Following a wave of violent confrontations and tit-for-tat killings, the leaders of five mass organizations-cum-urban gangs in Greater Jakarta – Pemuda...
View ArticleIndonesia Field Report II – Bali High, Rainforest Low: The Illicit Drug Trade...
Yet another Western tourist – this time a 56- year-old grandmother from Britain – has become the face of drug trafficking in Indonesia. Her death sentence for smuggling 10 pounds of cocaine worth of...
View ArticleIndonesia Field Report III – The Orangutan’s Road: Illegal Logging and Mining...
Kutai’s DestructionLike in a desolate Edward Hopper landscape, the orangutan was clinging to the one last tree that stood next to the river in Kutai National Park in eastern Kalimantan. The joy of...
View ArticlePeña Nieto’s Piñata: The Promise and Pitfalls of Mexico’s New Security Policy...
Mexico’s new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, has a tough year ahead of him. After six years of extraordinarily high homicide levels and gruesome brutality in Mexico, he has promised to prioritize social...
View ArticleHas the U.S. "Militarized the Battle" Against Illegal Drugs?
The whole issue of how the United States and other countries continue to spend these huge amounts of money to ensure that the fight against drug trafficking remains outside the United States needs to...
View ArticleFocused Deterrence, Selective Targeting, Drug Trafficking and Organized...
Editor’s Note: The following report was first published by the International Drug Policy Consortium, as part of its ‘Modernizing Drug Law Enforcement Project,’ in February 2013.IntroductionExtensive...
View ArticleStill Knee-Deep In Poppy: The Evolution of Counter-Narcotics Policies in...
Editor’s note: The following excerpt introduces a book chapter produced by Vanda Felbab-Brown for the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP) volume,Partners for Stability, published in March 2013....
View ArticleIndonesia Field Report IV: Wildlife Trafficking, Illegal Fishing, and Lessons...
The Cruel Wildlife MarketHundreds of cages with birds, lizards, bats, and mammals were stacked upon one another, with tens or sometimes even hundreds of specimens crammed into one cage. Several dozen...
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