Is Narco‐Violence in<scp>M</scp>exico Terrorism?

Abstract

Mexico's drug ‘war’ produced 100,000 deaths between 2006 and 2012. The extreme violence has raised the notion that M exico has become a failed state wracked by terrorism. We categorise the forms of narco‐violence in M exico in light of the literature on terrorism and contemporary M exican politics. Our study suggests three overlapping dimensions of narco‐violence that should be considered terrorism: (a) narco‐terror as a struggle for regional political control; (b) narco‐terror as a practice ordered by cartel leaders rather than spontaneous violence of foot soldiers; and (c) narco‐terror as an expansion strategy from solely drug trafficking to other kinds of organised crime.