Cops, Soldiers, and Diplomats: Explaining Agency Behavior in the War on Drugs

Cops, Soldiers, and Diplomats is an exceptionally clear exposition of bureaucratic behavior amongst various agencies as each responded to the challenges of the War on Drugs. Chapter by chapter, author Tony Payan exposes the bureaucratic imperatives of the numerous agencies waging the drug war, uncovering some of the fundamental structural reasons why this war could not succeed within the United States: fragmentation, competition, duplication, jealousy, turf-wars, information hiding, and ultimate failure. Payan’s work will be certain to find an audience with politicians and policy makers, students of sociology and criminology, and any one interested in the drug war.