Recent reports indicate the Trump administration is considering military action against Mexican drug cartels. Cato Institute scholars are available to explain why this approach would likely fail while damaging U.S. interests.
Our experts can discuss:
- Why the “Colombia model” failed to stop drug trafficking despite military intervention
- How previous drug war escalations in Colombia and Mexico proved ineffective
- Why cartels’ near-peer military capabilities would create another unwinnable conflict
- How targeting cartel leadership causes fragmentation without stopping drug flows
- The severe diplomatic fallout that would undermine U.S. interests across Latin America
Available for interviews: Brandan Buck, foreign policy research fellow, and Justin Logan, Director of Defense and Foreign Policy Studies.
Related Commentary:
- The U.S. Military Can’t Solve the Fentanyl Crisis
- Invading Mexico Will Not Solve the Cartel Problem
- An Idea Whose Time Should Never Come: Using Special Forces Against the Cartels Would Be a Colossal Mistake
- The Cognitive Shift: How the Terrorist Label May Lead to Another Forever War
- From One Endless War to Another: Trump’s New Military Frontier in Mexico?
- War with Mexico over Fentanyl Would Be Disastrous
- Worse than Futile: What’s Wrong with Using the U.S. Military to Counter Fentanyl
- Justin Logan discusses sending troops to fight Mexican cartels on WWL’s First News with Tommy Tucker
- Going to War in Mexico over Fentanyl Is a Terrible Idea
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