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 counternarcotics goals and strategies in Africa, how various U.S. civilian and military and international agency counternarcotics roles and responsibilities in Africa should be defined and what types and levels of resources these efforts may require.