Policing on Drugs: The United States, Mexico, and the Origins of the Modern Drug War, 1969-2000
A discussion of Aileen Teague's new book.

The designation of Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) and calls to deploy U.S. military forces to Mexico are just the latest developments in the complex U.S.-Mexico relationship. Since the 1960s, the U.S. has provided billions of dollars in military and police assistance to help Mexico stem the flow of drugs across the border. This support for militarized drug policing has left an enduring mark on the country’s security landscape—yet has done little to stop illicit narcotics like fentanyl from killing thousands of U.S. citizens. As a top U.S. trade partner with whom the U.S. shares a vast border, Mexico is a key partner for U.S. counternarcotics objectives, yet the tensions resulting from decades of mutual securitization offer broader lessons for U.S. drug policy and security cooperation in Latin America.
November 2025

24
11:00 AM ET
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Join us for a timely and important discussion with:

Aileen Teague

Aileen Teague is a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute and an assistant professor in the International Affairs Department at Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service. She previously held a postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. 

Sarang Shidore (Moderator)

Sarang Shidore is director of the Global South Program at the Quincy Institute. He was also a member of the adjunct faculty at George Washington University, where he taught a class on the geopolitics of climate change. He researches and writes on the geopolitics of the Global South, Asia, and climate change.
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