This thesis examines incidences of violence in Mexico related to the trade in illegal narcotics from the election of President Felipe Calderón in late 2006 to the election of his successor, Enrique Peña Nieto, in mid-2012. The thesis, which is arranged methodologically as a single case study, begins with an examination of the state of literature on violence, crime and warfare. The theoretical basis is specified by subsequent inquiry into the role of illegal narcotics as a driver of violence, and together, these theoretical chapters form the basis of the hypothesis, that under certain circumstances, the drugs trade can create a market of violence, in which non-political actors are incentivised by their constraints to engage in acts of violence not normally associated with criminals. The next three chapters comprise an empirical examination of the hypothesis – the first on historical inflection points in Mexican history and the US/Mexican relationship along with the geographic and historical challenges, as illustrated by the border region around Ciudad Juarez and the violence in Guatemala, the second on the divergent structures and strategies of selected Mexican drug trafficking organisations as a window into the nature of the overall conflict, and the third on the effects of Mexican and American governmental strategies to control the violence. The thesis concludes that while drug violence in Mexico does have the overall shape of a market of violence, developments toward the end of the period studied give some hope that the constraints will change and markedly reduce the incentive for violence. Policy ramifications and the overall future of drug violence given the uncertain future of prohibition are considered in the conclusion as well.

L'Union Européenne doit répondre à des défis sécuritaires majeurs, dont en particulier celui de la drogue, appréhendé dans toutes ses dimensions. Si le cannabis reste en 2018 la drogue la plus consommée sur le Vieux Continent, avec 17,2 millions d'usagers, la cocaïne arrive en seconde place avec 2,3 millions de consommateurs, soit près de 2% de la population européenne âgée de 15 à 34 ans. Alors que cette drogue est produite exclusivement en Amérique latine à partir des feuilles de coca, principalement en Bolivie, en Colombie et au Pérou, sa consommation s'est popularisée en Europe, non sans conséquences d'un point de vue sanitaire. Ainsi, les trafiquants de cocaïne ont su adapter leurs circuits d'approvisionnement dans le contexte d'un marché des drogues mondialisé et en perpétuel changement, dont ils profitent pleinement. Un marché très dynamique et flexible, et d'autant plus dangereux pour les pays se trouvant sur les routes du trafic de cocaïne. L'Afrique de l'Ouest et les Caraïbes sont deux régions particulièrement touchées par ce phénomène, au point d'être considérées comme étant des carrefours essentiels au transit de la poudre blanche. A ce titre, la translation, au moins partielle, entre les Caraïbes et l'Afrique de l'Ouest en matière de trafic de drogue révèle à quel point les réseaux sont imbriqués et aptes aussi bien à s'adapter à l'évolution de la géopolitique à l'échelle de la planète et des sous-régions, qu'à tirer profit des spécificités des États, mais aussi de leurs faiblesses. Le véritable enjeu pour l'Union européenne tient au fait que l'ampleur du trafic de cocaïne fondé désormais sur une répartition des rôles entre les Caraïbes et l'Afrique de l'Ouest constitue un vrai danger pour le Vieux Continent et pour les populations. L'intérêt pour l'Union européenne, même si ses moyens d'action et d'intervention sont limités et plus difficiles à coordonner comparés à ceux mobilisés par les États-Unis, est de déployer des stratégies pour enrayer le phénomène, en mettant en place des dispositifs qui se distinguent du tout répressif, caractéristique du modèle américain. / The EU must provide solutions to major security challenges mainly the one related to drugs viewed in all its dimensions. If in 2018, canabis remains the most used drug on the old Continent with 17,2 million users, cocaïne takes second place with 2,3 million, nearly 2% of the population aged 15-34. While this drug is produced exclusively in Latin America from coca leaves, mainly in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, its use has become popular in Europe with health consequences. Their, cocaïne traffickers have been able to product their supply channels in the contest of a globalized and ever changing drug market that benefits them fully. A very dynamic and flexible market which is all the more dangerous for countries on the road of cocaïne trafficking. West Africa and the Caribbean are two regions particularly affected by this phenomenon to the point of being considered as essentiel crossroads for the transit of white powder. As such the translation, at least partielly, between the Caribbean and West Africa in terms of drug trafficking reveals the extent to which networks are interconnected and able to adopt to the evolution of geopolitics on a global and sub global scale regions, to take advantage if the specificities of the States, but also their weaknesses. The real challenge for the EU lies in the fact that the scale of cocaïne trafficking now based on a distribution of roles between the Caribbean and West Africa is a real danger for the old Continent and populations. The interest of the EU, even if its means of action end intervention are limited and more difficult to coordinate compared to those mobilized by the United States, is to deploy strategies to curb the phenomenon, by putting in place devices that stand out from the American model of repression.

Based on six-years ethnographic research, this thesis provides an in-depth account of a contemporary British drug market. The study follows a group of twenty-five friends, termed The Lads, during their transition from late-adolescence (16-22) through to early adulthood (22-28). This was a critical stage in their life course; it was a time when many had begun advancing into the world of work and business entrepreneurship, in search of their chosen career. Yet it was during this time that two key developments occurred: bulk volumes of illicit drugs became available to The Lads through credit and the UK experienced several years of economic recession and stagnation. The economic constraints The Lads encountered during this time prompted many to become involved in the trafficking of illegal drugs. Though their entry into the markets was not necessarily motivated out of absolute need or poverty, the experience of low-paying salaries, the loss of work and income, and the inability to secure legitimate investment capital, all made drug dealing an alluring source of untaxed revenue, available as and when needed. This study assesses the practices of this cohort of closed-market drug dealers, who capitalised on their expansive social networks as a means of trafficking a variety of illegal substances at the time of these two developments. During the course of the research their involvement came to span several stages of the supply chain, including: mid-level wholesale brokerage, import/export, wholesale, and retail (i.e. to the end-users). The study addresses various structural elements of their trade, including drug purchasing and selling, the assessment and mitigation of risks in relation to law enforcement, and the use of informal credit (i.e. ‘fronting’) as one of the principle facilitating factors of The Lads’ various trade networks. A variety of data collection methods were employed over many years to garner a depth of understanding and appreciation difficult to achieve in the study of active offenders. The data comprises of life narratives, observations, interview data and economic data. The findings offer some new insight into: the kinds of people who deal drugs; what characteristics they share; how they function as traders; what motivates them to either enter or exit the trade, and what social structures influence their offending careers?These young men were not the archetypal drug dealer: they were neither predatory nor territorial. They were ambitious and hard working. Drug dealing was simply a shortcut to the lifestyle they aspired to; it was a source of capital; a means of funding their studies; a ‘means to an end’. To these young men, drug dealing was just another form of work: a bad job that paid a good salary.