Globalization and Its Impact of Drug Trafficking - Research Paper Example

What is the globalization? What is its impact on drug trafficking? Executive summary Globalization with its characteristics of cross boundary information exchange, cultural diffusion and trade has clustered the world into a one basic frame. This has brought many valuable opportunities but also has brought with it certain negative elements which are indeed hampering many countries. One such negative element is increasing drug trafficking. The paper has discussed the impact of globalization on drug trafficking with respect to a Latin American country, Columbia along with main causes and potential solutions. The findings reveal that with the international consumption increasing greatly, the people engaged in the administration have also participated in this trade forgetting about the negative impacts it imparts on the general population and hampering the future. Although in the recent years genuine efforts have been given on reducing the drug trafficking by focusing on the supply side, demand side in this paper is highlighted as a more important dimension for attaining solutions. Introduction Intensification of the term ‘globalization’ is indeed a dominant phenomenon unleashing its practicability in diversified gesture from the second half of the twentieth century to the instance we are standing today1. Technically speaking, theme of globalization encompasses around the notion that, nation states are intertwined with information exchange along with amalgamating culture, religion, tradition, business practices and so on2. Now within the domain of business perspective globalization among its multifarious dimensions imparts a significant part. Globalization has brought many opportunities but at the same time has imposed a lot of critical challenges and adverse effects. Drug trafficking is one such arena where the adverse effects of globalization has made its full interventions. Rational individuals are required to be bestowed with tasks of analyzing, understanding as well as harnessing the benefits for eliminating the negative consequences that come with it. The paper will be discussing the negative impacts of globalization with respect to drug trafficking (special emphasis on Latin American countries) with an attempt to find out potential solution to curb down its evil effects. Background From theoretical perspectives globalization can be visualized as a platform where the private organizations are operating in a global forefront with a disciplined behavior with equilibrium occurring at the intersecting point of demand and supply curves. Similarly it can be stated that the market of illicit drugs and its trafficking has its own equilibrium dynamics along with the intensification of globalization making its operation rampant. Along with this the severe negative externalities it imposes on the human existence is also costly. The industry of illicit drug trafficking is worth $ 8 billion and it is expanding in a large scale endangering the life of millions and jeopardizing the youth as well as the future generation. Now several questions come in our mind. Why is such rapid spread of drug trafficking? Why the rules are not stringent enough to curb this malpractice? Is it the seeds of colonialism germinating with the power in the hands of sovereign states that this practice is ushering without hindrance? Or, the third world countries are succumbing to the big nations and getting associated in these practices to earn their livelihood? To what extent the lives of people are getting hampered? What are the potential solutions to eliminate illicit drug trafficking? Research questions: Summing up all the relevant questions as constructed above the main research questions that will be addressed in this paper are: A. What is the impact of globalization on drug trafficking? B. What the main causes of rapid escalation are of drug trafficking? C. What are the potential solutions to this problem? The paper will focus on the crux of globalization and its impact on drug trafficking. The main area of discussion will be centered on drug trafficking with respect to Latin American countries (Columbia in this case). The Latin American countries are the largest distributor of cocaine and cannabis, and are fast becoming a major supplier of opium and heroin. Thus the paper through analysis of certain themes and issues will be answering the research questions framed above. Impact of globalization on drug trafficking –focus on Columbia The trajectory of illegal trade is a preeminent phenomenon in Latin American countries with large volumes of opium and marihuana been smuggled from Mexico to the United States since the period of 1920s. The trade of illicit drugs like cocaine, marihuana has been vehemently associated with elevated levels of violence3. The emergence of illegal narcotics trade (INT) points towards a historical conjuncture in Latin American countries and it is sixth in Columbia. The growth of capitalism can be said to be a precursor of drug trafficking. From the late 1960s the economy of illegal narcotics ushered with trading of marihuana and later with cocaine. The people engaged in the drug trafficking started to import cocoa from Bolivia and Peru and then process them into cocaine in Latin American country, Columbia for re export first in the United States of America and then to the continent of Europe. The boom in the cocoa cultivation in the country started in the late 1980s and in the last half of 1990s. In the year 1976, United Nations declared Columbia as a major center for the processing as well as transshipment of cocaine. In the first half of 1980s Columbia was viewed as a nation which held hostages with its political regime with the experience of a generalized crisis of state authority along with a jolt of violence with consequences are not clearly in sight. The bargaining policies of the Columbian states can be viewed as an important steering mechanism in the increase in drug trafficking. The time frame of 1981-1986 can be thought of an intense corporatizing time period of the INT in Columbia. The domination of the underground economy enlarged at an instance when the Columbian state began to transform itself from an interventionist state to that of a more representative and democratic state. The transformation towards a more representative state means that more political parties would be engaged and appointed with an elective conjecture. The political parties and the actors also in order to expropriate huge amounts of benefits indulged in the process of international narcotics trade. In the initial stage the state of Columbia put efforts in to deal with challenges of the entrepreneurs of the narco trade with little involvement beyond established informal conventions for the purpose of managing revenues from the underground economy. With dramatic increase in the money supply and political jeopardy, violence augmented adversely affecting the capacity of Columbian state to build its economic as well as political institutions. The governance of the state increased under siege. The policy decisions or the new rules changed in a frequent manner for responding to major power challenges from the INT. The new rules which were introduced subordinated the older informal conventions for the purpose of dealing with illegal activities. This directed towards continuation of antiquated collapsing institutions which has not been replaced with modern as well as durable institutions. The drug traffickers totally smashed the lush rain forest areas of Columbia. The drug lords also cleared vast tracts of jungle as well as mountain cloud forests for planting cocoa, raw material for cocaine as well as opium poppy. The ecological damage of drug trade is immense4. With the attraction of quick money, the educational forefront is also tremendously affected in a negative sense. High level school closing rates, drop outs have been due to the armed conflict and violence mechanisms within the Columbian youth. Along with violence there has been a greater vulnerability towards security and rights along with increased sexual exploitation, forced prostitution as well enhanced recruitment into the armed groups5. Causes leading to the escalated drug trafficking and measures taken With the advent of globalization, transportation as well as warehousing in the foreign countries has been established. For the purpose of production as well as storage the INT invested mammoth on the foreign facilities. With these instances of money laundering became an integral part of diversification in both related as well as unrelated businesses. These included creation as well as acquisition of supporting organizations like that of banking and accounting as well as that of unrelated diversification for the purpose of investing excess profits and reduction of investment risks. The operations were executed on the principles of control mechanism employed or as a network organization or in the structural relationships of the components. The development and diffusion of knowledge can be also viewed as an important parameter developing at each unit. A firm which has the spree to develop in the global economies of scale will be attempting towards developing knowledge on a central basis as well as retain it in the nucleus. This pattern lacks in the ability to integrate specific as well as complimentary competencies at each national unit6. The issues of bribery as well as intimidation can be said to be a chosen act surpassing terrorism and assassinations with the formation of large cartels involved in overseas drug trafficking. Institutionalized corruption has become the first cause of the increased drug trafficking. Bribery has been rampant within the authorities of the Columbian government which also involved former president of the national congress, congressmen, judges as well as the army officers as well as the policemen7. In this respect the statement of a former cartel leader can be stated which is as follows: "We dont kill judges or ministers, we buy them" 8. For the large scale increase in the production of cocaine in Columbia after the year 1999, the government of Columbia announced a strategy which was known as the Plan Columbia. The plan had two major objectives. The first objective is directed towards reduction of the production as well as trafficking of illegal drugs mainly cocaine by around 50% in the next six years. The second objective was aligned towards improving the security situation with retrieving of the large areas that were under the control of illegal armed groups. From the records of Columbia’s National Planning Department (DNP) the United States of America disbursed around $ 500 million per year between the time span of 2000 and 2008 in subsidies to the armed forces of the Columbian government for tackling the war against illegal drug production as well as trafficking. From the domestic government as well there was an expenditure of around US $ 172 million per year during the same period. An accumulated expense from the Columbian government was around 1.1% of the yearly GDP of the country. This plan is one of the largest interventions which have been ever implemented in the drug markets in the producer countries. The potential instruments which have been used by the Columbian government are that of manual and aerial eradication campaigns of illicit crops, interdiction of drug shipments, identification as well as demolition of labs and facilities that are used in the processing of the cocoa leaf into cocaine and chemical procedures in lesser extents. This has resulted in the decrease to the cultivation and hampered the supply side mechanics. However from a personal perspective the demand side of international drug trafficking is a much more crucial issue that has to be taken into account and has to be visualized as a means of potential solution. Solutions- Cutting the demand side The presence of supply tools and techniques of reducing cultivation and trade is a necessary tool. But the demand side approaches seem to make proper sense and its importance is more as because the exploitative as well as that of the offensive practices which distinguishes trafficking from the simple movement of the people are not the outcome of the victims but it is the outcome made by the perpetrators. In majority of the cases the primary driving force behind these actions are primarily economic as well as outweigh the risks of being caught. It can be stated that if people are able to limit the rewards simultaneously working to address the values as for example indifference to suffering of the people which is seen as different on the basis of race, sex, or social status. Two trajectories open out in cutting the demand side of drug trafficking. The first one is of tackling the traffickers whose greed directs the victimization of the vulnerable individuals. The other one is that of tackling the consumers. The demand of the consumers is a positive function of profitability. In the consumers side the group may include both end consumers of goods and services and the companies which buy the products from the supply chain. Although there are many potential solutions lies in some areas like that of improvement of the labor standards , targeting the exploitative supply chains through the actions of the customer as well as strengthening of the law enforcement against the exploiters and that of criminalizing the buying of goods the and services by the produced services9. The other solutions lie in educating the young students about the hazards of illicit drugs , prevention programs as well as incarceration of the people who are using as well as selling drugs10. Conclusions & Recommendations The overall study reflects that penetration of globalization has led to the increase in the international drug trafficking and has led to adverse effects on the economy of the countries. The Latin American countries have been embedded with vast resources of raw materials for drug cultivation and along with the opening of the trade barriers the trade increased on a manifold scale. The Latin American country, Columbia has been especially engaged in the drug trade affecting the youth and its economy as a whole. The government has been especially lacking in its preventive measures with rising levels of corruption and problematic administration. However in the recent times the government has taken measures to curtail mainly by focusing on the supply side. But the demand side holds a significant position as reduction in demand will automatically drop down the supply and the incentives of the drug traffickers. As recommendations the law enforcement must be tightened the young generation must be targeted and awareness among them has to be spread in an optimal level so that they can understand its graveness and create a drug free world. References Benedicte Bull, In the shadows of globalization: drug violence in Mexico and Central America, accessed on 7 November, 2012 Colombia cites ecological damage from drug trade, 1999, accessed on 7 November, 2012 Columbia’s war on children, 2004, : accessed on 7 November, 2012 Congressional Record, 2000, Government Printing Office, http://books.google.co.in/books?id=h4ZB_FYdx_gC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false accessed on 7 November, 2012 Carolin Krauss, Drug Trade in Colombia, accessed on 7 November, 2012 Demand Side Policies in the U.S. War on Drugs, 2012, accessed on 7 November, 2012 Sneh Mahajan, Issues In Twentieth-Century World History, Macmillan, 2009 Phil Marshall, Addressing the Demand Side of Trafficking, 2012, accessed on 7 November, 2012 Patricia B McRae, Impact of the Illegal Narcotics Trade on Economic and Legal Institutions in Colombia, 1998, accessed on 7 November, 2012 Jakupec et al, Flexible Learning and Human Resource Development: Putting Theory to Work, Routledge, 1999 Read More