Drugs and Conflict in Colombia: a Policy Analysis of Plan Colombia

In Colombia, drug cultivation and trafficking combine with a complex guerilla war to endanger internal security and the legitimacy of the government. This creates a geonarcotics problem that adversely impacts regional stability and exacerbates the drug problem in the US and Europe. Past efforts to address the problems had failed. Plan Colombia, a joint initiative of the Colombian and the US governments, was developed in 1999 in response to a deteriorating situation. Support for Plan Colombia is a high priority of US foreign policy. Plan Colombia was the foundation for broad range of programs addressing security, drug production and trafficking, the peace process, social development, economic development and democratization. This book evaluates the results of Plan Colombia using a policy analysis framework and should prove insightful to students of public policy and history. Furthermore, some of the policy approaches of Plan Colombia might well prove useful in addressing the drug trafficking that supports the current Taliban insurgency and is a corrupting influence on officials in Afghanistan.