Free Traders and Drug Smugglers: The Effects of Trade Openness on States' Ability to Combat Drug Trafficking Horace A. Bartilow Kihong Eom ABSTRACT The theoretical literature presents conflicting expectations about the effects of trade openness on the ability of states to interdict drug trafficking. One view expects that trade openness will undermine drug interdiction; a second argues the opposite; a third argues that trade openness does not necessarily affect drug interdiction. This article assesses empirically the effects of trade openness on drug interdiction for countries in the Americas using a pooled time-series cross-sectional statistical model. It finds that trade openness decreases the interdiction capabilities of states in drug-consuming countries while increasing those of states in drug-producing coun- tries. Greater openness to trade does not have a consistently signif- icant effect on the interdiction capabilities of states in drug transit countries. I believe that the biggest problems to our security in the twenty-first century and to this whole modern form of governance will probably come not from rogue states or people with competing views of the wodd in governments, but from the enemies of the nation-state, from terrorists and drug runners, and organized criminals who, I predict, will increasingly work together and increasingly use the same things that are fueling our prosperity: open borders, (open commerce] and the Internet. . . . And we have to find a way to cooperate, to deal with enemies of the nation-states, if we expect progressive governments to succeed. —President Biii Ciinton, November 21, 1999 C ontroversy still swirls around the effects of trade openness on jobs and wages in the industrialized world. Like President Clinton, some scholars and policymakers view trade openness as fueling the prosperity of nation-states, while others blame trade openness for massive job losses and wage suppression (Lawrence 1996; Ahmad 2004; Teeple 1995). Pres- ident Clinton's comment also underscores another controversy that involves how organized criminal organizations, such as daig cartels, exploit the opportunities of economic openness and ultimately threaten the security of nation-states. How openness to trade affects the ability of states to respond to this threat is the issue this article addres.ses. 2009 University of Miami