U.S. POLICY TO COMBAT ILLEGAL DRUG TRAFFICKING IN THE INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the US drug control policies in the Western Hemisphere and the impact of these activities on relations between the United States and Latin America. Particular attention is paid to transformation of US goals and approaches to the illegal drug trade phenomenon in the Americas in the context of establishing dialogue with the countries of the Andean region and the Caribbean. It was emphasized that revitalization efforts of the United States to reduce the supply of illicit drugs in the Americas in the second half of the 1980s. became an accurate reflection of the US government’s recognition of the futility of “war on drugs” in previous decades. The US insistence on the supply-reduction model of the US drug control policy has led to spreading of illegal drug trade in the region. Among scientists this phenomenon is called «balloon-effect» – counternarcotics efforts in one location tend to result in drug production moving elsewhere. The necessity of developing new approaches to the problem of drug trafficking brought an understanding of the need for dialogue with governments of the Latin American countries where drugs are produced and trafficked. In addition to this the increasing threat of violation unstable Latin American democracies directly hurt US foreign policy interests in the region As a result of the research the author comes to the conclusion that raising the problem of overcoming the threat of drug trafficking in the state of foreign policy tasks allowed to unify the views on methods of combating drug trafficking both governments of the United States and Latin American countries. Nevertheless, US made good use of the weakness of Latin American countries institutions and used economic and political tools that have determined the agenda for combating drug trafficking for many decades.