Nexus - 0703 - New Times Magazine-pages

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In the domestic domain, even where there was no structure of __ the interactions between the drug industry and law enforcement interest mediation between a confederation of business firms and practices, in the next section I first clarify some of the dominant military services, and where the goals of the MIC were merely changes in the international political economy that I see as the achieved through innumerable and basically unrelated decisions, necessary background for understanding the escalation of their still the outcomes of these decisions taken in the pursuit of per- mutual dynamics. ceived self-interests led to the growth of both sectors. In the international arena, the theorists of the MIC perceived different, CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT IN THE NWO nationally bound, military-industrial complexes to support each The internationalisation of both crime and law enforcement and other mutually, as the alleged achievements of one party in the therefore also their mutual dynamics are closely related to the Cold War urged the other on to greater heights. changes in the world system, brought about by the end of the Cold Ina similar way in this paper, I try to understand the underlying War, by globalisation, regional integration and neo-liberal dynamics of the War on Drugs by focusing on the symbiotic and reforms. The transformations these developments and processes systemic relations between the drug industry and states' drug con- gave rise to are manifold. They produced new patterns of hierar- trol efforts, and from there develop a theory of the International — chy and dominance in the international system and changed the Drug Complex. This theory should help explain the continua- role of the state in this system. Therewith, we see new forms of tion—if not escalation—of the War on Drugs, explain the pre- sovereignty (e.g., economic, multilateral, multinational) and dominant place the drug issue has attained in changes in the relations between economic domestic and international policies of many and political systems (e.g., deregulation, states, and provide a deeper understanding of informalisation, corruption). These changes the very dynamics of the drug industry and of in the world political and economic system the state powers put in place to control it. . . . . also lead to a diminished separation between I depart from the assumption that by focus- The internationalisation the domestic and the international frame- ing on the political and economic dimensions of both crime and law works for policy making and the manage- of the drug industry and drug law enforce- ment of economic affairs (Cherny, 1995; ment, a more profound understanding can be enforcement and Rosenau, 1992). With these developments, achieved of the dynamics under!ying {heir therefore also their the very basis of the accumulation of power mutual expansion. I place the drug industry . and wealth—and the use of these resources and law enforcement within the context of mutual dynamics are for their protection—takes unprecedented both the societies and the international politi- closely related to the shapes. This is equally true for the forces cal economy in which they take shape, and thereby try to delineate their interac- tions and mutual dynamics. To assess the outcomes of their mutual interac- tions, I focus on the distributional con- sequences of these interactions within and between societies, stating these intended and unintended consequences in terms of the distribution of power, wealth and security in both domestic and international realms. Below I develop three closely related themes, through which I aim to illumi- nate the intertwined dynamics of the drug industry and law enforcement that try to redistribute these political and economic resources. Globalisation thus leads to a much more fragmented competition for the sources of power and wealth, in which non-state players exercise an increas- ingly important role. In this context, the internationalisation of crime and law enforcement takes place. In this context, their interactions take shape. It is also in this context that they influ- ence the international political econo- my and, therewith, the distribution of power, wealth and security in the inter- national system. changes in the world system, brought about by the end of the Cold War, by globalisation, regional integration and neo-liberal reforms. practices, and so provide the building Globalisation, defined as the "inten- blocks for a theory of the International Drug Complex: sification of economic, political, social and cultural relations 1. The global drug industry—in which I focus on the interna- across borders", has to a large extent been facilitated by techno- tional division of labour in the drugs business, and on how states’ logical developments, and has further been sustained by economic laws and drug control practices might impinge on the industry's and political decisions to give international exchanges free way. organisational structures and the distribution of reward; Together with the partial liberalisation of global markets, globali- 2. The political economy of drug law enforcement—in which I sation has offered increasing opportunities for the unfettered flow focus on the trade-offs between drug repression and broader poli- of capital, goods, people and information over the globe. The cy goals of states in domestic and international arenas, and on the concomitant increase in the power of market forces and the mechanisms through which the intertwined dynamics of the forces impact of neo-liberal reforms have debilitated states’ capabilities of crime and punishment influence the distribution of power, or willingness to regulate and control these flows. With the fall of wealth and security within and between societies; the Berlin Wall, this globalisation, uneven as it may be, is gaining 3. The International Drug Complex—in which I assess the truly global dimensions. underlying dynamics of the interactions between the drug industry Paradoxically, together with the further integration of the world and drug enforcement practices, and argue that the War on Drugs society, these developments have also brought about disintegra- is driven by similar collusive and systemic mechanisms as those tive forces which, combined with new technological capabilities, that spurred the Cold War, with possibly no less detrimental con- offer unprecedented opportunities for the expansion of transna- sequences for the relations between states and their societies. tional criminal enterprises. The political turmoil and poverty that As my focus is specifically on the international dimension of came with these changes in the international political economy the interactions between the drug industry and law enforcement practices, in the next section I first clarify some of the dominant changes in the international political economy that I see as the necessary background for understanding the escalation of their mutual dynamics. mutual dynamics are closely related to the APRIL — MAY 2000 NEXUS 29 of both crime and law enforcement and therefore also their