Rethinking Merida's Priorities: The Time is Now to Invest in Homeland Security

Abstract

This paper examines the problem of U.S. congressional funding priorities for Beyond Merida legislation and finds that inadequate resourcing of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) programs impedes U.S. and Mexican efforts to disrupt transnational drug cartel operations in the near term. The author uses a Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) methodology to compare the efficacy of current State Department (DOS) initiatives against possible alternatives administered by DHS. The author draws conclusions that to better disrupt the operations of transnational drug cartels, the U.S. Congress should appropriate to the DHS funding that was previously identified to support the Merida Initiative. The paper recommends that Congress enact a Department of Homeland Security Authorization bill in perpetuity and advocate for Mexican inclusion into the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 28, 2011
Accession Number
ADA555128

Entities

People

  • Richard G. Burgess

Organizations

  • Naval War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Autonomy
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Border Security
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Department Of Homeland Security
  • Department Of State
  • Foreign Relations
  • Governments
  • Homeland Defense
  • Homeland Security
  • Law
  • Military Operations
  • National Security
  • North America
  • Public Policy
  • Security
  • United States
  • War Colleges

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Government and Public Administration Law.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Strategic Security Studies

Technology Areas

  • Space