Martha Cottam

The Management of Border Security in NAFTA Imagery, Nationalism, and the War on Drugs

As a free trade area, NAFTA requires the relatively unrestricted movement of people, goods, and services across the borders between the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Although the proponents of NAFTA emphasize positive economic outcomes for the three partners, the dependence of those outcomes on open borders inevitably brings with it the prospect of greater opportunities for transnational criminal activities, generally, and for narcotrafficking, in particular. Managing the free flow of goods and people while limiting the free flow of illegal substances and criminals is the central dilemma of the war on drugs in NAFTA. Cooperation between the member states differs strikingly, with smooth cooperation along the northern border between the United States and Canada and a troubling lack of cooperation along the U.S.-Mexico border. The different patterns in cooperation among policy makers and law enforcement agencies are largely attributable to mutual perceptions and nationalism in all three countries.

Simulating US Foreign Policy Crises: Uses and Limits in Education and Training

Crisis policy simulations can provide instructors with valuable tools for (1) increasing student awareness of the complexities of the real-life policy environment; (2) enhancing their empathy for the challenges faced by actual policymakers; and (3) providing vivid illustrations of difficult theoretical concepts associated with individual or group decision making and crisis management. This article explores the value of classroom simulations and the requirements for their successful construction and use.

International cooperation in the war on drugs: Mexico and the United States

Both Mexico and the United States, which share a long and porous border, have declared international narcotics trafficking a national security problem. Nevertheless, operational cooperation in dealing with this common problem has been lacking. We argue that difficulties in trans‐national cooperation are caused, in the main, by conflicting evaluations of the causes and impacts of the drug problem, competing nationalisms in the U.S. and Mexico, and perceptual imagery.

Cognitive psychology and bargaining behavior: Peru versus the MNCs

This paper explores the impact of cognitive images on bargaining between state policy makers and private multinational corporations (MNCs). The paper begins with a discussion of the cognitive images and presents three ideal-typical images of multinational firms as perceived by Third World hosts. It is then argued that the interaction of images of MNCs and the self prodduces distinct bargaining patterns with MNCs classified in each image. The paper then presents examples of these bargaining patterns in Peruvian bargaining with MNCs during the Velasco government.

Explaining Torture: A Case Study

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, most Latin American countries experienced military coups and military interventions in government affairs. One of the worst consequences of these military interventions was the torture and murder of thousands of people. This study focuses on the perpetrators of torture and examines group influences on the occurrence of torture and the behavior of torturers. To achieve this goal, we have conducted field research to interview and evaluate individuals who were members of the Chilean police and military during the 1980s. Interviews were conducted with Chilean military and police torturers active during the military regime (1973 – 1990). Group influences are strongly associated with the institutional context. The study identifies common patterns among the perpetrators but also considers the marked differences between them and demonstrates the important role of the group in enabling the perpetration of torture. Few studies have examined torture behavior in an institutional framework, and the identification of these features may allow this type of crime to be prevented.