Mexico at the Precipice: Are Lessons from Plan Colombia Operationally Relevant to United States Northern Command?

Abstract

The violence from Mexico's ongoing fight against narcotraffickers has reached astounding proportions and poses a national security threat to the United States. There is currently a lack of a unified coarse of action for United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM) with respect to Mexico. United States Southern Command's (SOUTHCOM) experience during Plan Colombia can provide insight into how NORTHCOM might proceed through an integrated approach to counterinsurgency (COIN)training, border security and increased military to military cooperation. This paper will examine the history of the drug conflicts in both Mexico and Colombia and will look specifically at the Merida Initiative and Plan Colombia. It will discuss similarities and differences between the situations in Mexico and Colombia and discuss some possible scenarios for NORTHCOM to engage Mexico. Finally, it will make recommendations for NORTHCOM to move forward.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 04, 2009
Accession Number
ADA503220

Entities

People

  • John E. Dolby

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Combatant Commanders
  • Department Of State
  • Failed States
  • Law
  • Military Science
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Students
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • Training
  • United States
  • United States Government
  • United States Northern Command
  • United States Southern Command
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Joint Military Operations and Doctrine.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Systems Analysis and Design