Drugs & Crime

A Prescription for Safety

Buying drugs online may not be as dangerous as you think.

BY ROGER BATE | AUGUST 19, 2009

Church and Narcostate

Mexico is at war with violence drug cartels that will stop at nothing to keep their dark trade going. Why is it taking so long for some Catholic clergy to speak out?

BY RODERIC AI CAMP | AUGUST 13, 2009

(Un)civil Society in the North Caucasus

Vladimir Putin's early claim to fame was crushing the Chechen rebels. But more than a decade later, Russia's restive Caucasian republics are sinking to new depths of lawlessness and chaos. Is Dmitry Medvedev—or anyone else—paying attention?

BY SARAH MENDELSON | AUGUST 12, 2009

Why the "Merchant of Death" Might Not Stand Trial

Today, a Thai court refused to extradite Viktor Bout, a notorious Russian arms dealer, to the United States. Something is rotten in Bangkok. 

BY DOUGLAS FARAH | AUGUST 11, 2009

Pants Pants Revolution

Sudanese courts might give Lubna Hussein 40 lashes for the crime of wearing pants. But they also might start a grassroots backlash on the world stage. 

BY ANONYMOUS | AUGUST 5, 2009

War Criminal Charles Taylor Clears the Courtroom

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who spurred a decade of violence in neighboring Sierra Leone, is on trial for war crimes. Why don't Sierra Leoneans seem to care?

BY GLENNA GORDON | JULY 28, 2009

And Then There Were None

How they killed Chechnya's conscience.

BY ANNA NEMTSOVA | JULY 16, 2009

Europe's New Lost Generation

Young Europeans are facing the worst job market in years -- and that has some scary implications now and down the road.

BY ANNIE LOWREY | JULY 13, 2009

China's Black Cat, White Cat Diplomacy

Why Beijing is losing patience with its dysfunctional allies.

BY WEN LIAO | JULY 10, 2009

Central America's Coming Crisis

Honduras is just the beginning.

BY MANUEL OROZCO | JULY 6, 2009

Letters: Mexico’s State of Affairs

Arturo Surakhan, Mexico's ambassador to the United States, thinks Sam Quinones's dire assessment of Mexico is dangerously misleading.

APRIL 15, 2009

Wasted

The American prohibition on thinking smart in the drug war.

BY MOISÉS NAÍM | APRIL 15, 2009

In Other Words: Mob Rule

Italy is becoming the failed state of Western Europe, but do Italians even care that the mafia is running the show?

BY VALENTINA PASQUALI | APRIL 15, 2009

Popping the Balloon Theory

Does Barack Obama have the wisdom to change a drug policy that has been wreaking havoc in Latin America for decades?

BY ALMA GUILLERMOPRIETO, ANNIE LOWREY | APRIL 15, 2009

This Week at War, No. 12

What the four-stars are reading -- a weekly column from Small Wars Journal.

BY ROBERT HADDICK | APRIL 10, 2009

2009: The Year America Discovered Mexico

Why is bad news from south of the border suddenly dominating U.S. headlines? Two words: nativism and nostalgia.

BY ANDRÉS MARTINEZ | APRIL 6, 2009

City Hall Fights Back

Mayor José Reyes Ferriz is putting his life on the line to save Ciudad Juárez from drug traffickers.

BY MONICA MAGGIONI | MARCH 23, 2009

This Week at War, No. 8

What the four-stars are reading -- a weekly column from Small Wars Journal.

BY ROBERT HADDICK | FEBRUARY 27, 2009

State of War

Mexico's hillbilly drug smugglers have morphed into a raging insurgency. Violence claimed more lives there last year alone than all the Americans killed in the war in Iraq. And there's no end in sight.

BY SAM QUINONES | FEBRUARY 16, 2009

The Narco State Next Door?

Mexico is fast becoming the central battleground in the war on drugs, but few in the United States seem to notice the worsening violence and corruption across the border.

INTERVIEW BY ELIZABETH DICKINSON | OCTOBER 30, 2008

A Second Opinion

Peter Maybarduk questions Roger Bate’s conclusions about "The Deadly World of Fake Drugs."

OCTOBER 15, 2008

Caught in the Net: FARC

AUGUST 13, 2008

The Path of Least Resistance

Billions are being spent on disease-fighting drugs in poor countries, but millions are still dying. Why? Because what doesn't kill a virus only makes it stronger.

BY RACHEL NUGENT | AUGUST 12, 2008

Message in a Bottle

Packaging is the quickest route to success in the world of drug counterfeiting. If you can replicate a drug’s box or bottle, most consumers won’t notice what’s inside.

BY ROGER BATE | AUGUST 12, 2008

The Deadly World of Fake Drugs

Whether it's phony Viagra or knockoff cancer meds, fake drugs kill thousands of people each day, thanks to counterfeiters in China and India who mix chalk, dust, and dirty water into pills sold around the world. With the Internet becoming the world's dispensary, these poison pills could be coming to a pharmacy near you.

BY ROGER BATE | AUGUST 12, 2008

The Poppy Trade

AUGUST 12, 2008

Brazil’s Secret Army

BY ANABELA PAIVA | JUNE 16, 2008

iCrime Wave

BY PREETI AROON | MARCH 1, 2008