Publication Date

2016-05-04

Availability

Open access

Embargo Period

2016-05-04

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PHD)

Department

International Studies (Arts and Sciences)

Date of Defense

2016-03-29

First Committee Member

Bruce Bagley

Second Committee Member

William Smith

Third Committee Member

Laura Gomez-Mera

Fourth Committee Member

Juan Gabriel Tokatlian

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the cases that have resisted the U.S. pressure to adopt the standard security model (SSM) to fight against drug-trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean. Since more can be learned by examining phenomenon that deviate from the modal pattern, this dissertation focuses on Argentina. Existing research, by contrast, has revolved around Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, and the Caribbean; countries where the U.S. securitized drug-trafficking by presenting it as an existential threat, justifying the militarization of counter-narcotics policies. In seeking to fill this theoretical and empirical vacuum, this dissertation answers three main research questions: Why have some countries succumbed to the U.S. pressure for a SSM while others resisted? What specific factors explain the different trajectories followed by these countries? And, finally, what alternative policies, if any, have these countries chosen to replace the SSM?

Keywords

Argentina; Latin America; drugs; United States; violence

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