Africa’s Connection to the Drug Trade

Africa has historically held a peripheral role in the transnational illicit drug trade, but in recent years has increasingly become a focus for drug trafficking, particularly of cocaine. Africa’s emergence as a trafficking nexus appears to have resulted from structural shifts in international drug trafficking patterns. This book examines how best to balance short-term and long-term counter-narcotics goals and strategies in Africa, how various U.S. civilian and military and international agency counter-narcotics roles and responsibilities in Africa should be defined and what types and levels of resources these efforts may require.