Empirical research on the convergence of the drugs, development and peacebuilding policy fields, calling into question a growing reformist agenda that advocates for the developmentalisation of drugs.
Policy frontiers: the drugs-development-peacebuilding trilemma
This policy brief presents the ‘Drugs-development-peacebuilding’ policy trilemma as a useful framework and tool for highlighting tensions and trade-offs between these three policy fields.
COVID-19 in Colombia’s borderlands
Podcast: Drugs & (dis)order researchers discuss how COVID-19 has affected communities and their research in Colombia’s borderlands.
Call for papers: militias, frontiers and frontiersmen
RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 31 August – 3 September 2021.
Jessica: coca, estigmatización, violencia y desarrollo en colombia
Jessica es una líder social de Putumayo, un departamento en la frontera sur de Colombia. Este cómic fue creado por Inty Grillos, Colorbia. Leer comic
Voces desde los territorios fronterizos 2020
Los testimonios de este informe aportan ideas valiosas sobre cómo las drogas ilícitas –y las políticas de drogas– afectan las dinámicas de violencia, paz, pobreza, desarrollo, inseguridad y resiliencia.
Colombia: does peace still have a chance?
Francisco Gutierrez outlines the important role for international actors in helping turn the tide of violence in Colombia.
Jessica: Coca growing, stigmatization, violence and development in Colombia
Jessica is a social leader living in Putumayo on Colombia’s border with Ecuador.
Three things Jessica’s story tells us about coca growing, violence and development in Colombia
Jessica’s story spotlights the stigmatisation and violence associated with coca farming, as well as the welfare benefits and development it brings to families and communities – it’s a story of hardship, resilience and tough trade-offs.
Colombia faces a second deadly threat
Alongside COVID-19, violent forced eradication of illicit crops is taking its toll. A new database is documenting that on-going violence.
Drugs, development and violence in war-to-peace transitions
This policy brief shares insights from seven conflict- and drug-affected borderlands in Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar, and reflects on their implications for those supporting peace processes, poverty alleviation and development in fragile contexts affected by drugs.
Voices from the borderlands 2020
Insights into how illicit drugs – and drug policies – impact the dynamics of violence and peace, poverty and development, and insecurity and resilience.
Jangul: conflict and drug trafficking in Afghanistan’s borderlands
This comic tells Jangul’s life story, in Nangarhar province in Afghanistan and how he ended up smuggling heroin from Kabul to Moscow.
Una conversación sobre erradicación forzada, PNIS y los acuerdos con campesinos cultivadores de cultivos de uso ilícito
This video is currently only available in Spanish. Entrevista virtuale con Pedro Arenas, investigador de la Corporación Viso Mutop.
Afghanistan: about the borderlands
Afghanistan is a land-locked mountainous country with a population of some 38 million. It is classified as ‘low income’ and ranks 168 out of 188 according to the HDI. As of 2016, an estimated 54.5% of Afghanistan’s population lived below the poverty line. Located along the historic Silk Road, Afghanistan has long been integrated into […]
Colombia: about the borderlands
Colombia is a regionally, environmentally and ethnically diverse country with a population of about 48 million people. It is ranked 79 out of 189 countries on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Human Development Index (HDI) and is classified by the World Bank as belonging to the ‘upper middle income’ group. However, Colombia is also one of the most unequal countries […]
Myanmar: about the borderlands
Myanmar is the largest country in mainland Southeast Asia with a population of about 53 million people. It shares extensive borders with Bangladesh, India, the Peoples Republic of China (incorporating Tibet), Laos and Thailand. Although the country has vast natural resources, most of the population is extremely poor. The country is ranked 145 out of […]
About Voices from the borderlands 2020
Voices from the borderlands 2020 is one of several Drugs & (dis)order outputs that aim to shed light on the experiences and perspectives of people involved in illicit drugs in seven borderland regions of Colombia, Afghanistan and Myanmar. It is intended for a broad audience of researchers, practitioners and policymakers working on issues related to […]
Policy implications
Important policy insights and implications from Voices from the borderlands 2020.
A policy impasse and way forward
The challenges and ways forward to better integrate drugs, development and peacebuilding policy.