Projects

U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation Project

Thanks to a generous grant from the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Mexico Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (WWICS-MI) and the Trans-Border Institute (TBI) at Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at the University of San Diego (USD) collaborated on a joint 18-month research project on U.S.-Mexico Security Cooperation from from 2009-2010. The overall objective of this research initiative was to gauge the effectiveness of U.S.-Mexico security cooperation to address the shared challenge of trans-national organized crime and violence, primarily associated with drug-trafficking.

The principal implementers of the project were Mexico Institute Director Andrew Selee and Trans-Border Institute Director David Shirk. The project was coordinated by WWICS-MI Senior Advisor Eric Olson, with assistance from WWICS-MI Research Associate Robert Donnelly and TBI Justice in Mexico Project Coordinator Octavio Rodríguez. In addition, the research team also involved fifteen other researchers from the United States and Mexico.

In January, February, and April of 2010, the project conducted working visits to San Diego-Tijuana, El Paso-Ciudad Juárez, and Mexico City and Morelos to meet with U.S. and Mexican officials engaged in international and cross-border cooperation. In the course of this project, the Mexico Institute and TBI released a series of papers and other findings to help analyze the progress of U.S. and Mexican efforts to combat shared security challenges. These papers are made available below, and were later edited and published as part of a single, edited volume titled "Shared Responsibility: U.S.-Mexico Policy Options for Combatting Organized Crime." These materials are also available on the website for the Mexico Institute. The project has also spawned other notable research, including a Council on Foreign Relations special report, “The Drug War in Mexico: Confronting a Shared Threat," which was authored by Shirk (Selee and Olson participated on the review committee for the report).

The project and its findings provided an excellent illustration of the value of thorough, policy-focused research. The results of this project have been widely referenced by U.S. and Mexican officials working to combat the problem of drug trafficking and organized crime, and have even helped to shape key policy initiatives. Olson, Selee, and Shirk have provided expert testimony in several congressional briefings and were each invited to testify before Congress hearings on numerous occasions in 2010 and 2011 on both House and Senate panels such as House Foreign Affairs; House Homeland Security, House Government Reform and Oversight; and Senate Foreign Relations and Senate Government Reform.

One of the lead researchers (Selee) was invited to address officers from Mexico’s Navy (SEMAR) in Mexico City and the other (Shirk) was invited to help craft the Mexican Interior Ministry's evaluation of the country's judicial reform project, both rare opportunities for foreign experts. Additionally, the project's lead researchers have been consulted by senior U.S. officials from the White House, including the National Security Council and Office of National Drug Control Policy, Department of State, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Treasury, and Department of Justice. One of the lead researchers (Selee) chaired the official orientation for the new US Ambassador; another (Shirk) organized a special briefing for Ambassador and senior U.S. diplomatic staff in Mexico. Other experts associated with the project have been widely consulted by policymakers including in five Hill briefings on issues such as firearms trafficking and drug trafficking. Additionally, the expert opinions of experts associated with the project have been sought by numerous Members of Congress engaged in drafting legislation, and preparing for hearings. Project experts have been frequently invited to participate in private consultations with senior U.S. and Mexican inter-agency security teams dealing with organized crime and violence in Mexico.

The project also helped shape the public's understanding of the complex challenges shared by both Mexico and the United States thanks to extensive media coverage in hundreds of articles in Mexican and U.S. press, and dozens of appearances on radio and television. For example, the project's findings have been sighted over 40 times in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News, Miami Herald, San Diego Union Tribune, Houston Chronicle and countless times in other newspapers, NPR, CBS, NBC, Fox News, CNN, MSNB, and PBS News Hour as well as other media. The lead researchers have also published opinion pieces in several newspapers including the Dallas Morning News, El Universal, and the Washington Post. The host institutions of the project have also sponsored literally dozens of public events, forums, conferences, and guest lectures with leading scholars, academics and policy makers on issues related to security cooperation, border security, and violence in Mexico.

Book:

Shared Responsibility: U.S.-Mexico Policy Options for Combatting Organized Crime

Working Papers: