The Real "Long War": The Illicit Drug Trade and the Role of The Military (Enlarged Edition)

The 21st century has seen the growth of a number of nontraditional threats to the international stability on which trade, and thus U.S. peace and security, depends, and for the moment at least a reduced likelihood of continental scale warfighting operations, and something of a de-emphasis on major involvement in counterinsurgency operations. These nontraditional threats are, however, very real and should command a higher priority than they have done, even in a period of budgetary constraint. The military have cost-effective contributions to make in countering the manufacture and distribution of illicit drugs, and in many cases can do so without serious detriment to their main warfighting task. Successfully completing this mission, however, will require the military to rethink their integration with the nonmilitary aspects of a whole-of-government approach and almost certainly their institutional preference for speedy victories in short wars.