Came across the following paper surfing the net. Thought it was pretty good. Really useful is the extensive bibliography at the end for anyone interested in primary sources on Plan Colombia or the history of the conflict in Colombia in general. The link is below. I have put the text of his thesis statement below the citation. It's about 45 pages in total.
https://www.afresearch.org/skins/rim...rs=enginespage
PLAN COLOMBIA:
MUCH MORE THAN A WAR ON DRUGS
April 2007
Shane C. Haughian, Major, USAF
AIR COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGE
AIR UNIVERSITY
"This paper will argue that when one fully analyzes all evidence concerning Plan Colombia in the post-9/11 era, he/she will come to a reasoned conclusion that although Plan Colombia is still tied to the war on drugs, US national interests in the Andean region are much more complex than simply driving up the price of domestic cocaine. In order to show this I will first look the historical context and background that set the story for Plan Colombia. I will use this context as a spring board to show what America’s goals for Plan Colombia have been, are, and should be in the future. I will also address why Plan Colombia matters to the United States by showing that America’s reasons (US interests) to support Plan Colombia are based on 1) security, 2) economic prosperity, and 3) drugs. Lastly, I will identify the key impediments that weaken Colombia’s national legitimacy and power.
The second half of the paper will discuss how Plan Colombia can be better implemented. I will start this process by first addressing insurgency, counterinsurgency (COIN), foreign internal defense (FID) and drug supply and demand theories. I will then look at the lessons learned (military/security, economic, social development and drug-related) during the 2000-2007 execution of Plan Colombia – first the negative lessons learned, followed by positive lessons learned. From these lessons learned, I will identify eight key conclusions. Finally these conclusions will be incorporated into my military, economic, social developmental and joint/interagency recommendations for Plan Colombia II (2007-2013)
Throughout this paper, I’ll reiterate three themes. I will show that territorial security is being re-established in Colombia and that security is the sin qua non for all other progress in Colombia. Furthermore I’ll argue that although the United States must continue to support security through military and police funding, it also needs to slowly re-balance funding away from security to economic and institutional programs. Lastly, I’ll assert that long-term success in Plan Colombia will only occur with increased inter-agency cooperation."
Linear Mode
