Because Mexico has failed to achieve internal security, it poses serious threats to its neighbors. This volume takes us inside the Mexican state to explain the failure there, but also reaches out to assess the impacts of Mexico's security failure beyond its borders.

Introduction: Security Failure versus State Failure Paul Kenny and Mónica Serrano Part 1: The Background 1. The Mexican State and Organized Crime: An Unending Story Paul Kenny and Mónica Serrano 2. Transition to Dystopia: 1994-2008 Paul Kenny and Mónica Serrano Part 2: Security Failure at Home... 3. Arbitrariness and Inefficiency in the Mexican Criminal Justice System Ana Laura Magaloni 4. Accounting for the Unaccountable: The Police in Mexico Ernesto López-Portillo 5. Security versus Human Rights: The Case of Contemporary Mexico Alejandro Anaya Muñoz Part 3: ... and Abroad 6. Drug Trafficking and US-Mexico Relations: Causes of Conflict Jorge Chabat 7. Mexico's War on Terrorism: Rhetoric and Reality Athanasios Hristoulas 8. The Mesoamerican Dilemma: External Insecurity, Internal Vulnerability Raúl Benítez and Arturo Sotomayor. Conclusion: Authoritarian Evolution Paul Kenny and Mónica Serrano