Intelligence Squared US

TUESDAY, DEC 1, 2009

AMERICA IS TO BLAME FOR MEXICO’S DRUG WAR

About This Debate

Nearly 10,000 people in Mexico have died in drug-related violence since January 2007. Who or what is to blame? Some say it is America’s insatiable consumer demand for illicit drugs and the constant flow of our guns, which arm the cartels. Others believe that Mexico’s own government is ineffective in controlling the trade of the drug cartels because of rampant corruption in law enforcement in the country. The US Congress, unable to ignore the rising violence spilling over the border, has approved $700 million in security aid for Mexico, and has promised hundreds of federal agents and intelligence analysts devoted to the problem. Officials on both sides wonder whether this will make a dent in the problem. Has our own “war on drugs” been ineffective, or even counterproductive? Should Mexico’s government take full responsibility for what goes on within its own borders? Should the very idea of criminalization of drugs be re-examined?

The Panel

For The Motion

  • Andrés Martinez
    Andrés Martinez
    FOR THE MOTION
    Andrés Martinez
    directs the New America Foundation's Bernard L. Schwartz Fellows Program. He was the editorial page editor of the Los Angeles Times from 2004-2007, and presided over the newspaper's op-ed page and Sunday opinion section.
  • Jeffrey A. Miron
    Jeffrey A. Miron
    FOR THE MOTION
    Jeffrey A. Miron
    is senior lecturer and director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. Miron holds a B.A. from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. in economics from M.I.T.
  • Fareed Zakaria
    Fareed Zakaria
    FOR THE MOTION
    Fareed Zakaria
    was named editor of Newsweek International in October 2000, overseeing all Newsweek’s editions abroad. The magazine has an audience of over 24 million worldwide. He also writes a regular column for Newsweek, which appears in Newsweek International and the Washington Post.

Against The Motion

  • Asa Hutchinson
    Asa Hutchinson
    AGAINST THE MOTION
    Asa Hutchinson
    has been elected three times to the United States Congress and has been confirmed by the United States Senate both as administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration and as the nation’s first undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security after the 9-11 attacks.
  • Chris W. Cox
    Chris W. Cox
    AGAINST THE MOTION
    Chris W. Cox
    is the executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (ILA), the lobbying arm of the National Rifle Association of America. Cox oversees seven ILA divisions: Federal Affairs, State & Local Government Affairs, Public Relations, Grassroots, Finance and Administration, Research & Information, Conservation, Wildlife & Natural Resources; as well as the Office of Legislative Counsel.
  • Jorge Castañeda
    Jorge Castañeda
    AGAINST THE MOTION
    Jorge Castañeda
    was foreign minister of Mexico from 2000 to 2003. Castañeda is a renowned public intellectual, political scientist, and prolific writer, with an interest in Mexican and Latin American politics, comparative politics and US-Mexican and U.S.-Latin American relations.

Moderator

John Donvan is an author and correspondent for ABC News. He has served as ABC’s White House Correspondent, along with postings in Moscow, London, Jerusalem and Amman. He is currently writing a book on the history of autism to be published by Crown in 2013.

Poll Results

Pre-Debate Poll Results
43% For | 22% Against | 35%

Post Debate Poll Results
72% For | 22% Against | 6%

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