Global Drug Trafficking Routes and Failed State Typologies

Global Drug Trafficking Routes and Production

Opiates

• Main Producers: Afghanistan, Myanmar, Laos (LA).
• Major Routes:
  • Balkan Route: South Asia (SA) to the European Union (EU).
  • Southern Route: South Asia (SA) via maritime and airborne transport.
  • Northern Route: Afghanistan (Afg) to Post-Soviet states.
  • Golden Triangle: Southeast Asia to China and Oceania.
  • Americas Route: Mexico to North America (NA), Colombia to South America (SA).

Cocaine

• Main Producers: Colombia, Peru, Bolivia.
• Main Consumers: North America (NA), European Union (EU).
• Routes:
  • To North America: Primarily by land through Central America.
  • To Europe: Originating in Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador. Entry points into Europe include Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

Cannabis and Synthetic Drugs

• Cannabis Main Producers: Morocco, Afghanistan, Lebanon, India.
• Main Market (Cannabis/Meth): North America (NA).
• Methamphetamine Producers: Southeast Asia (SEA), East Asia (EA), North America (NA).
• Synthetic Drug Trafficking Routes: From West Africa, North America, and West Asia, connecting with Europe and the Middle East.

Understanding Failed States and Their Typologies

The term Failed States is often applied to those political entities that do not provide the services typically found in First World welfare states. However, this label should more convincingly be pinned on states which cannot (or do not want to) carry out the most basic functions of the social contract, namely, the security and safety of their citizens.

Typologies of State Failure

Anarchic States

These states exhibit an absolute absence of centralized state authority whatsoever. There is hardly any clear pattern of violence waged by sub-state militias, as there are few central institutions to be captured. Thus, fighting often targets short-term, limited goals, such as the control of a particular region or even neighborhoods.

Phantom or Mirage States

This typology is closely related to that of anarchic states. In these phantom states, we may talk of a semblance of authority. Authority exhibits itself in only certain areas, such as the security necessary to protect the existing regime. Example: Zaire.

Anaemic States

In this typology (e.g., Haiti, Cambodia), centralized authority exists. However, official institutions have a very hard time projecting their power beyond those areas closest to the capital. The failure may stem either from insurgencies sapping the authority or because the engines of modernity are not in place.

The difference between anaemic and phantom states is crucial: whereas the latter do not attempt to project their power beyond some sectorial issues, the former cannot project themselves successfully in territorial terms. This difference can be termed as between sectorial and territorially deficient projection.

Captured States

These failed states do not suffer so much from troubles in projecting their power, as is the case with the three former types. In opposition, here we find a strong centralized state. However, it is captured by particular interests which serve the elites instead of the citizenship or an ethnic group opposed to others. Example: Rwanda.

Aborted States

This last category consists of states that did not achieve full control over their territory at their very inception upon acquiring independence. These states usually face problems of internal order which derive in civil wars, often protracted, as was the case in Mozambique and Angola.