Book Description

This report takes an in-depth look at how the global drug trade has turned the West African nation into a crossroads of instability. Over the past decade, interdiction efforts in the Americas coupled with strong market forces in Europe have resulted in a growing transit of cocaine and other narcotics from Latin America across the Atlantic to West Africa and then into Europe. The report identifies three inter-woven trends that have contributed significantly to Guinea-Bissau's crises: First, a significant deterioration in civil-military relations over the last decade has led to increased political meddling by military officers, fragmentation within the security forces, and a sharp decline in military professionalism, according to the report. Second, a disproportionate concentration of power residing in the presidency has led to intense and oftentimes unproductive competition for control over the Office of the President. Finally, the rise of the narcotics trade in Guinea-Bissau has exacerbated many of the country's governance problems. "[T]he drug trade has amplified the level of instability in the country and refutes the common assumption that transshipment of drugs has a benign effect on the transited country." These events have directly contributed to instability in Senegal, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, and elsewhere in Africa. Meanwhile, emerging ethnic tensions, especially within the military, have complicated the country's cycle of crises. The report provides detailed recommendations for how to address Guinea-Bissau's complex challenges. The challenges faced by Guinea-Bissau, and the policies and strategies developed to address those challenges, provide valuable lessons for dealing with the challenges of narco-states emerging elsewhere on the continent.