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2007 Harold D. Lasswell Award
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Awarded for best dissertation in the field of policy studies.
Award Committee: Bruce E. Cain, University of California, Berkeley, Chair; Cheryl M. Miller, University of Maryland Baltimore County; Mark Carl Rom, Georgetown University
Recipient: Vanda Felbab-Brown, Georgetown University and The Brookings Institution
Dissertation: “Shooting Up: The Impact of Illicit Economies on Military Conflict”
Dissertation Chair: Professor Kenneth A. Oye, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Citation: Vanda Felbab-Brown has written a nuanced, thoughtful study of the role that illicit economies play in sustaining military conflicts. The conventional view holds that the nexus between insurgencies and these illicit economies must be broken in order to deny belligerents the critical resources that sustain their rebellion. Dr. Felbab-Brown argues that one of the many problems with the conventional wisdom is that it ignores the political capitol that insurgents gain when attempts to suppress the illicit economies alienate farmers. Drawing on observations from three countries—Peru, Columbia, and Afghanistan—Dr. Felbab-Brown’s study reveals the futility of the current strategy and recommends a new approach that exploits the inherent tensions between belligerents and those who traffic in illegal markets. This dissertation brilliantly demonstrates how a skilled comparative and historical study can better inform military policy-making.
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