The Mexican Potemkin State.
As I have noted previously, operating within a hollowed-out state may benefit many 4GW entities more than replacing the state. A Potemkin state protects 4GW organizations from foreign attack; the U.S. cannot go after drug gangs within Mexico except in a surreptitious manner, because doing so would violate Mexican sovereignty. The penetrated Mexican government will ensure that any “cooperation” with U.S. anti-drug efforts will not go beyond a “check the box” level. Everyone benefits from maintaining the fiction of a state: the 4GW gangs, the Mexican economy, the bank accounts of Mexican politicians and the U.S. government, which can tell the rubes back home we are “fighting the drug war” in what amounts to shadow boxing.
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Related Grits for Breakfast post.
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Related Grits for Breakfast post.