Cette recherche part de la volonté de comprendre et d‘expliquer l‘interaction entre la politique intérieure et la politique internationale dans les processus de construction étatique des pays les moins développés et avec une histoire de forte dépendance extérieure. Son objectif central consiste donc à étudier les transformations du phénomène de l‘intervention internationale dans le contexte de la mondialisation à partir de l‘analyse du cas colombien. C‘est pourquoi, en premier lieu, y sont examinés les théories qui, selon les relations internationales, ont rendu compte de l‘intervention comme partie de la dynamique de la politique internationale contemporaine. Un type spécifique d‘intervention, la construction étatique, est analysé dans le cadre de la politique extérieure nord-américaine au XXe siècle. En second lieu, l‘étude de cas présentée analyse l‘intervention des États-Unis en Colombie lors de trois moments distincts : l‘Alliance pour le progrès (1961-1972), la lutte contre les drogues (1975-1994) et le Plan Colombie (2000-2010). A travers ceux-ci est exposé de quelle manière l‘intervention de la superpuissance dans le pays sud-américain a changé tant dans sa conception que dans sa mise en place au long d‘un demi-siècle. L‘examen détaillé de ces trois périodes permet d‘identifier les point de comparaison afin d‘établir s‘il s‘agit ou non d‘une intervention orientée vers la construction étatique. / This research project emerges from an interest in understanding and explaining the interaction between domestic and international politics in the processes of state-building in less developed countries that also have histories of strong3foreign dependence. The main objective of this work is to study the transformation of the phenomena of foreign intervention in the context of globalization through the analysis of the Colombian case. Thus, theories from the discipline of international relations that study intervention as part of the dynamics of contemporary international politics are examined first. Specifically, the intervention related to statebuilding, which is presented in the context of American foreign policy in the 20th century, is analyzed. Second, the intervention of the United States in Colombia in three different periods is explored: the Alliance for Progress (1961-1972), the War on Drugs (1975-1994) and Plan Colombia (2000-2010). Throughout these periods, this study establishes how the intervention of this superpower in this South American country was changing in both its conception and implementation for half of a century. Also, by a detailed examination, the study identifies points of comparison in order to assess whether or not the intervention was oriented towards statebuilding.

Over the last four decades organized crime groups, particularly, drug trafficking organizations or drug cartels, have managed to be under the spotlight of the security agendas of American countries such as Colombia and the United States. During the last two decades, however, the global securitization of the drug trafficking issue, has led them to become a major security threat not only for the Americas, but also for Europe and more recently for West African countries. These organizations pose a threat not only to the security of the state, but to the very essence of it, by corrupting and damaging everything they come in contact with at the political, social, economical and even cultural level. This graduate thesis presents an analysis on Latin American drug trafficking organizations or drugs cartels, as they are commonly known, focusing on the cases of Colombian and Mexican drug cartels. By comparing these two case studies, I suggest that today's Mexican drug trafficking organizations have gained their momentum and incommensurable strength by following the footsteps of the big three Colombian drug cartels that existed between the 1980s and 1990s. The first chapter will expose the definitions and concepts surrounding the research of organized crime. In the second and third chapters, both the...