Reviews
If the War on Drugs is Over ...
Now What?
"Ambassador Blackwell's book in its title and three subtitles could be summarized in one main question: how should we approach security today, when problems are horizontal and solutions vertical? The simple answers to complex problems are all through the book. They can be summarized in one concept: “more horizontal solutions”. That means more cooperation among countries with a new understanding of the problems, better data, better policies, more impact
Combining an easy language that captures the attention of the reader with the experience that comes from the author’s position at OAS, this book opens many issues related to a new way of thinking security. It moves through the political priorities of these first fifteen years of the twentieth-first century that fluctuate among drugs, organized crime and terrorism. It suggests a stable and innovative approach to the security problems of our time and probably of our future."
Professor Ernesto U. Savona,
Director of Transcrime and Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research (Springer)
Combining an easy language that captures the attention of the reader with the experience that comes from the author’s position at OAS, this book opens many issues related to a new way of thinking security. It moves through the political priorities of these first fifteen years of the twentieth-first century that fluctuate among drugs, organized crime and terrorism. It suggests a stable and innovative approach to the security problems of our time and probably of our future."
Professor Ernesto U. Savona,
Director of Transcrime and Editor-in-Chief of the European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research (Springer)
"Blackwell brings his great understanding of Latin America, the transnational drug trade, and the role of illicit trade in funding conflict in an accessible manner that should be of interest to a broad policy community. The role of youth gangs in the drug trafficking and violence is shown to be the result of a long historical evolution in Central America that explains its endurance but also suggests strategies that might help address the problem. Blackwell clearly brings home the enormous cost of the high homicide rates and regional violence to the communities of the region and shows how interventions, including gang members, can be effective. This is a fascinating read filled with insight from an insider's perspective."
Dr. Louise Shelley
Omer L. and Nancy Hirst Endowed Chair
Director, Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC)
University Professor, School of Policy, Government and International Affairs
Inaugural Andrew Carnegie Fellow 2015-17
George Mason University
3351 Fairfax Drive MS3B1
Arlington, VA 22201, USA
http://policy-traccc.gmu.edu
author, Dirty Entanglements:Corruption, Crime and Terrorism (Cambridge University Press, 2014)
Dr. Louise Shelley
Omer L. and Nancy Hirst Endowed Chair
Director, Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC)
University Professor, School of Policy, Government and International Affairs
Inaugural Andrew Carnegie Fellow 2015-17
George Mason University
3351 Fairfax Drive MS3B1
Arlington, VA 22201, USA
http://policy-traccc.gmu.edu
author, Dirty Entanglements:Corruption, Crime and Terrorism (Cambridge University Press, 2014)
Ambassador Blackwell does a good job of showing that politicians agree that the war on drugs has failed, and he does a great job in laying out what politicians must do to stop the violence. It is a clarion call to politicians to be heroes in solving problems, not continuing broken systems. He wants smart leaders who use proven ways to tackle the epidemic of violence by investing in the futures of young men instead of incarcerating them. This book is as much about solutions in US cities as it is about the future of Latin America.
Irvin Waller, President, International Organization for Victim Assistance and Author of Smarter Crime Control: A Guide to a Safer Future for Citizens, Communities and Politicians
Irvin Waller, Ph.D.
Full Professor, University of Ottawa
President, International Organization for Victim Assistance (in special consultative status with ECOSOC)
www.irvinwaller.org | www.iovahelp.org | @IrvinWaller
