KEBIJAKAN COUNTERDRUGS AMERIKA SERIKAT DI MEKSIKO STUDI KASUS : THE MERIDA INITIATIVE

ADRI ARLAN, Budi Winarno

2010 | Skripsi | Ilmu Hubungan Internasional

Headlines and television commentaries about Mexico becoming a failed state as a result of drug-related violence has become a dime a dozen. Terms such as “criminal insurgency”, ”narco-terrorism” and “narco-insurgency” are all used to describe the widespread killings. The Joint Operating Environment Report of 2008 even suggested that Mexico, along with Pakistan, could suffer from a dramatic collapse of the state, with serious implications for U.S. national security. Former Drug Czar, General Barry McAffrey, published an after action report on a visit to Mexico in December 2008 which concluded that ´Mexico is not confronting dangerous criminality, it is fighting for survival against “narco-terrorism”. The situation in Mexico is clearly serious, and there is no argument that drugrelated violence increased steadily through 2006 and 2007 and more than doubled in 2008. Yet, inflammatory language and hyperbolic rhetoric do nothing to clarify the issues. To describe Mexico as becoming a failed state is deeply insulting to a country in which national sovereignty and national pride remain powerful impulses. Even the common description of Mexican drug trafficking organizations as cartels is a misnomer; they control neither price nor production levels the requisite criteria for a cartel. Moreover, too few commentaries focus on the reasons for this increase in violence or what it really means to the stability of the Mexican state. While some of the rhetoric has had an impact in Washington, compelling the new administration to treat Mexico as a high priority, it has also generated much more heat than light. Keywords: Mexico, United States Counterdrug policy, Narco terrorism.

Kata Kunci : kebujakan Publik Amerika