Marxe Endowed Chair of Western Hemisphere Affairs and Professor, Desmond Arias is Co-Principal Investigator for a research project in Mexico on illicit governance by organized criminal groups, funded by the National Science Foundation. Arias co-wrote the proposal with his colleague Javier Osorio at the University of Arizona. The grant began in 2021 and was awarded to the University of Arizona in the amount of $526,070, $170,000 of which is a sub-contract to Baruch College.
The project emerged from research that Professor Arias conducted with colleagues Felbab Brown at The Brookings Institute, and Javier Osorio at the University of Arizona for a Minerva Research Initiative award from the Department of Defense project on armed actor governance in Colombia and Afghanistan. The research seeks to explain why, which, and where organized criminal groups develop illicit governance structures over local, economic, social, and political activities in Mexico. To examine this, the investigators are carrying out a national expert survey to collect data, and will perform comparative subnational fieldwork, with sites to be determined.
The findings of the project will help deepen our understanding of the role of non-state armed actors in politics and will also aid U.S. national security by illuminating the causes of illicit governance in countries where the U.S. seeks to support the government, maintain political stability, and contain civil conflicts. It will contribute to the study of areas such as failed states, non-state actor governance in conflict-afflicted countries, criminal organizations and corruption, and democratic back-sliding.
Learn more about Marxe Endowed Chair of Western Hemisphere Affairs and Professor, Desmond Arias and his research
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