From Pablo to Osama: Counter-terrorism Lessons from the War on Drugs

Author: M. Kenney1

Source: Survival, Volume 45, Number 3, 2003 , pp. 187-206(20)

Publisher: Routledge, part of the Taylor & Francis Group

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Abstract:

In wars on drugs and terrorism, states confront daunting adversaries: transnational networks of criminals and terrorists that carry out illegal activities, while avoiding government efforts to destroy them. These illicit enterprises share numerous similarities, including compartmentalised structures, flat decision-making hierarchies and an aptitude for organisational adaptation. While the US and its counter-terrorism partners have achieved substantial results against al-Qaeda, similarities among traffickers and terrorists, and lessons from two decades of war on drugs suggest a number of difficulties in dismantling terrorist networks. If policymakers hope to achieve lasting victory in the war on terror, they must move beyond a strategy based on leadership interdiction and devote greater diplomatic, political, and economic resources to addressing the ‘demand side’ of terrorism.

Document Type: Original article

Affiliations: 1: Michael Kenney is assistant professor of public policy at the School of Public Affairs at Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg.

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