Video | Guns, Drugs, and Military Aid: Exploring Unintended Effects of US Policy in Latin America

The last ten years have seen escalating violence south of the US border. The violence manifests in different forms and intensity levels, and affects Mexico, Central America, and several countries in South America. Politicians and pundits debate the appropriate role for US policy in combating this trend, but data-driven research is scarce and many questions remain. What do leading academic researchers find about the effects of US policy on violence in Latin America and the indirect effects of US efforts to combat arms and drug trafficking on public health, migration, public security, and development? What do researchers know that policymakers should know, and what priorities should drive future research aimed at informing policy decisions?