Introduction: security failure versus state failure Paul Kenny and Monica Serrano Part I: The Background 1. The Mexican state and organized crime: an unending story Paul Kenny and Monica Serrano 2. Transition to dystopia: 1994-2008 Paul Kenny and Monica Serrano Part II: 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 Lopez-Portillo 5. Security versus human rights: the case of contemporary Mexico Alejandro Anaya Munoz Part III: ... 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 Raul Benitez and Arturo Sotomayor Conclusion: Authoritarian evolution Paul Kenny and Monica Serrano