Crime Wars: Gangs, Cartels and U.S. National Security

Photos from the event:

Date and Time:
September 30, 2010
4:30: Guest check-in and registration
5:00-6:30: Event
6:30-7:30: Reception

To RSVP for this event, click here.

This event will be broadcast live at www.cnas.org/live starting at 5:00 p.m. EST.

Last month, the Mexican government announced that the drug wars have claimed 28,000 lives since 2006. These drug trafficking groups have evolved to pose significant challenges not only to Mexico and the United States, but to governments and societies across the Western Hemisphere.

On September 30, 2010, from 5:00-6:30 p.m., the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) will host an event to launch Crime Wars: Gangs, Cartels, and U.S. National Security, a groundbreaking CNAS report that surveys organized crime throughout the Western Hemisphere, analyzes the challenges it poses for the region and recommends the United States replace the "war on drugs" paradigm with comprehensive domestic and foreign policies to confront the interrelated challenges of drug trafficking and violence ranging from the Andean Ridge to American streets.

At the event on September 30, a diverse panel of experts will discuss this multi-layered national security challenge including:

Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown
Foreign Policy Fellow for The Brookings Institution 21st Century Defense Initiative
Author of Shooting Up: Counterinsurgency and the War on Drugs

Roberta Jacobson
Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
U.S. Department of State

Colonel Robert Killebrew, USA (ret.).
Senior Fellow
Center for a New American Security

Thomas Ricks
Senior Fellow
Center for a New American Security

Michael Shifter
President
Inter-American Dialogue

This event will also be webcast live at www.cnas.org/live. Webcast viewers can submit questions to panelists via Twitter @CNASdc.