The World Geopolitics of Drugs, 1998/1999

The other report is published by the U. S. State Department and is more "committed," but only as far as the national interest of the world's only su­ perpower is concerned. Therefore, the State Department report must be read while keeping in mind the state of U. S. relations with the countries concerned. This report is accompanied by the so-called "certification" process, whose ar­ bitrary character has often been stressed. For instance, Iran, a country whose determination to fight the drug transit on its territory is well-known - more than 100 Iranian law enforcement agents die every year as a restult - was removed from the "blacklist" of "decertified countries" in the spring of 1999, precisely as it was inaugurating a policy of opening itself to external influ­ ence, including that of the United States. In retrospect, this demonstrates that the U. S. government had decertified Iran in past years because it was viewed as an Islamic and terrorist country, not because of its supposed involvement in drug trafficking. Neither does the last State Department report explain why Haji Ayub Afridi, a major Pakistani drug baron, who had voluntarily surrendered to U. S. authorities, returned to Pakistan in 1999 after spending a mere three and a half years in a U. S. prison.

This annual report of The World Geopolitics of Drugs (1998/1999) is even more indispensable than earlier ones for the simple and regrettable reason that it is the last report. Everyone who studies the international traffic in narcotics, or writes about it, or is merely concerned with it as a responsible citizen, is forever in the debt of Alain Labrousse and his coworkers at the OGD in Paris, and his rapporteurs around the globe. This report, just like all the previous ones, is encyclopedic, there is nothing that is not taken into account. Those who read it will immediately understand its extraordinary value.

Front Matter....Pages I-20 Introduction....Pages 21-32 Global problems....Pages 33-51 Asia....Pages 53-102 Europe....Pages 103-165 The Americas....Pages 167-240 Africa....Pages 241-284 Features the annual report of The World Geopolitics of Drugs.