Mexico's Struggle for Public Security: Organized Crime and State Responses.

AuthorVargas, Laura
PositionFURTHER READING - Book review

MEXICO'S STRUGGLE FOR PUBLIC SECURITY: ORGANIZED CRIME AND STATE RESPONSES

George Philip, Susana Berruecos, eds.

(New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), 204 pages.

Mexico's Struggle for Public Security: Organized Crime and State Responses--a new examination of Mexican organized crime--stands above the many publications already issued on this subject. A product of the London School of Economics' (LSE) annual Conference on Mexico, this publication is an insightful and multidisciplinary analysis on Mexico's public security issues, which provokes thoughtful reflection on a complex reality.

The book's opening chapters focus on understanding the causes behind the increased levels of violence. Contrasting viewpoints pit the current administration's strategy of countering organized crime through security policy, social policy, and institutional reform, put forth by the current Minister of Government Alejandro Poire, against a framework that challenges the government's strategy of capo arrests and cartel fragmentation. The conflicting arguments presented here speak to an unbiased commitment to promoting a thoughtful debate on central questions, namely: What are the implications of today's security policy efforts for the future, and how do they point a way forward?

A particularly interesting section of the book provides an analysis of reforms undergone by the criminal...

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