{"product_id":"2940148624530","title":"The Challenge of Drug Trafficking To Democratic Governance and Human Security In West Africa","description":"Mr. Brown’s Letort Paper describes how West Africa is under attack from international criminal networks that are using the subregion as a key global hub for the distribution, wholesale, and increasing production of illicit drugs, most prominently cocaine, but also heroin and amphetamines and their precursors. While West African states have made remarkable progress in democratic and economic development over the past decade, the insidious effects of narcotics trafficking have the potential to reverse many of these gains. The proceeds of drug trafficking are\u003cbr\u003efueling a dramatic increase in narco-corruption in the region, allowing drug traffickers to stage coups d’état, hijack elections, and co-opt or buy political power. The problem has worsened to the point that these networks represent an existential threat to the viability of already fragile states in West Africa as independent, rule of law based entities. Besides a spike in drug-related crime, narcotics trafficking is also fraying West Africa’s traditional social fabric and creating a public health crisis, with hundreds of thousands of new drug addicts. On net, drug trafficking and other illicit trade represent the most serious challenge to democratic governance and human security in the region since resource conflicts rocked several West African countries in the early-1990s.","brand":"ReadCycle","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47067927511280,"sku":"2940148624530","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940148624530_p0.jpg?v=1763705403","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940148624530","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}