Security Cooperation
Topics include Mexico’s judicial reform process, strategies for confronting organized crime, anti-money laundering efforts and security along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Issues in this Series
U.S. Firearms Trafficking to Guatemala and Mexico
Goodman's paper discusses U.S. firearms trafficking to Mexico as well as the lesser known phenomenon of the illicit movement of U.S.-origin firearms to Guatemala.
The Effects of Drug-War Related Violence on Mexico’s Press and Democracy
This paper offers an assessment of the impact of criminal violence on journalists and media workers in Mexico, which is now the most dangerous country in the Western Hemisphere for journalists. Dr. Edmonds-Poli concludes with a set of policy recommendations for the Mexican government, Mexican society, and the international community to address the problem of violence against the Mexican media.
Criminal Procedure Reform in Mexico: Where Things Stand Now
This paper gives an overview of Mexico’s judicial reform process and where things stand now that the Peña Nieto government has assumed the presidency from Felipe Calderón. A key challenge in tracking the reform continues to be the unavailability of systematic data on institutional changes; Ingram’s paper highlights the weakness in data availability but his measures of reform progress also contribute to ameliorating this weakness.
The State of Security in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region
"The State of Security in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region," is a new working paper by the Border Research Partnership, and will be a chapter in the forthcoming "State of the Border Report." This working paper looks at some of the many security concerns along the U.S. border, among them global terrorism, spillover violence from Mexico, and undocumented immigration.
It’s All about the Money: Advancing Anti-Money Laundering Efforts in the U.S. and Mexico to Combat TOC
Mexican criminal organizations generate billions of dollars in revenues in the United States each year and have developed both sophisticated and low tech ways to “launder” their dirty money and continue trafficking.This paper outlines the
use of the financial instruments aimed at degrading TCO's power in the U.S. and Mexico and increasing their cost of doing
business.
Considering New Strategies for Confronting Organized Crime in Mexico
The Mexico Institute presents a new publication on U.S.-Mexico security cooperation by Senior Associate Eric L. Olson that challenges the conventional wisdom about crime and violence in Mexico and suggests new strategies for effectively addressing the security threats posed by organized crime.
Crime Data and Spillover Violence along the Southwest Border
As organized crime‐related violence has increased in northern Mexico, so has the heated rhetoric regarding the U.S. side of the border. The title of National Geographic’s program, Border Wars, exemplifies the sentiment, echoed by several politicians, that the border region is lawless and dangerous. For residents of the U.S. border region, thankfully, the reality is anything but that.
Shattered Dreams and Restoring Hope: Organized crime and violence on the U.S.-Mexico border
Our group of seven is part of a joint research and writing project to examine the effectiveness of US and Mexican efforts to confront transnational organized crime that is tearing apart communities in both countries. Our project starts with the assumption that both countries have a shared responsibility to address the violence and underlying causes giving rise to the current crises in places like Ciudad Juarez.
Update on U.S. Firearms Trafficking to Mexico Report
Since the Mexico Institute published its report entitled “U.S. Firearms Trafficking to Mexico: New Data and Insights Illuminate Key Trends and Challenges” in September 2010, there is new information on the use of weapons, government actions, and challenges related to the issue, but there has been little or no movement on some of the key underlining problems.
Shared Responsibility
This publication examines specific challenges for security cooperation between the United States and Mexico including efforts to address the consumption of narcotics, money laundering, arms trafficking, intelligence sharing, policy strengthening, judicial reform, civil-military relations, and the protection of journalists.
The United States and Mexico: Towards a Strategic Partnership
At a time when the United States is undergoing a change in administration, the Woodrow Wilson Center felt it was important to conduct a thorough review of the relationship between the two countries and address possible strategies for cooperation between them in the future.
A Profile of Mexico's Major Organized Crime Groups
The purpose of this fact sheet is to shed light on the structure of the criminal organizations operating in Mexico and the United States, as well as to provide background information and analysis on the rapidly evolving nature of organized crime.
Steady Advances, Slow Results: U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation After Two Years of the Obama Administration
In this paper we look at what the two governments have done over the past two years to move forward on their commitments. We find that there have been steady advances in each of the areas they committed to address, but that the results so far are far less than what is needed to address the threat posed by organized crime groups.
Beyond Merida: The Evolving Approach to Security Cooperation
While the majority of U.S. funding in the first phase of the Merida Initiative went to expensive equipment, particularly aircraft, the new approach shifts the focus toward institution building. It will attempt to create successful pilot projects, most likely in Tijuana and/or Ciudad Juarez, using a comprehensive approach to public security that could presumably be replicated in other parts of Mexico.
Pillar IV of Beyond Merida: Addressing the Socio-Economic Causes of Drug Related Crime and Violence in Mexico
This paper is being released in preliminary form to inform the public about one key element in the strategy to address the underlying factors contributing to the violence and threats from organized.
Overview of the Merida Initiative
The Merida Initiative, which has been proposed by the U.S. and Mexican governments, would provide $1.4 billion over three years in equipment and training from the U.S. to the Mexican government to support both law enforcement efforts directed against organized crime and long-term institution building for federal police and the judicial system.
The United States and Mexico: Forging a Strategic Partnership
Co-Chairs: Ambassador Andrés Rozental and Professor Peter H. Smith
U.S.-Mexico Border Control in a Changing Economic and Security Context
A critical survey of the practice and politics of U.S.-Mexico border control within the changing contexts of economic integration and the “war on terror.”
Los Estados Unidos y México: Construyendo Una Asociación Estratégica
Co-Chairs: Ambassador Andrés Rozental and Professor Peter H. Smithen español
Fact Sheet: U.S. Southwest Border Security Initiatives
This report lists some of the various projects, programs, and activities undertaken by the U.S. government to enhance security at the U.S.-Mexico border and to combat transnational contraband trafficking.
Confronting the Challenges of Organized Crime in Mexico and Latin America
The following report seeks to highlight where common themes emerged in the discussion about organized crime and U.S.-Mexico security cooperation.
Nontraditional Security Threats in the U.S.-Mexico Bilateral Relationshp: Overview and Recommendations
Prepared for the Mexico Institute, Woodrow Wilson Center, study on the “Parameters of Partnership in U.S.-Mexico Relations,” January 2005.
Cuadernos Del ICESI
National polls regarding insecurity, compiled by the Instituto Ciudadano de Estudios Sobre la Inseguridad (ICESI).
Security and Intelligence in U.S.-Mexico Relations
In spite of political differences between the two countries regarding global issues, their relationship has become stronger on a bilateral level since 9/11. Specifically, the greatest progress has been achieved in the field of intelligence.
U.S.-Mexico National Security Cooperation against Organized Crime: The Road Ahead
Calderón took an important step forward for Mexico’s national security interest by collaborating with the United States and sharing the responsibility of tackling organized crime. Will Calderón’s successor continue down this road? Can we foresee an equivalent to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on the security front?
Six Key Issues in U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation
While there have been instances of cooperation between the United States and Mexico in the past, the Mérida Initiative marks the first time Mexico has asked for U.S. assistance to strengthen its institutional capacity to respond to organized crime.
U.S.-Mexico Policy Bulletin: June 2005
In this month’s bulletin,T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Dean of the Georgetown University Law Center, offers a perspective on an upcoming paradigm shift in U.S. immigration policy and how this may affect the U.S.-Mexico relationship.
U.S.-Mexico Policy Bulletin; January 2005
The first issue of the U.S.-Mexico Policy Bulletin, featuring Peter Andreas's article on new approaches to border control.
Mexico and the New Challenges of Hemispheric Security
This book is the product of a work done by Raúl Benitez Manaut, a member of the Creating Community Research Team. The three essays compiled in this volume are the fruit of his residence at the Wilson Center as a Public Policy Scholar in the Latin American Program.
