Drug cartels, American corporations and other things that lurk in the dark: A discourse analysis of Mexican foreign policy and the intersection between security and identity

Abstract

Investigating recent events in Mexican security policy from a poststructuralist perspective, this study highlights the role of identity in both security and foreign policies. These developments in International Relations (IR) and security studies have proven that sometimes the traditional perspective on these types of questions is insufficient and that an alternative perspective can be proven useful. This qualitative study provides a discourse analysis of a lawsuit filed by the Mexican State against eight American Firearms Corporations, using a theoretical and analytical framework based on poststructuralists Lene Hansen, David Campbell and Ole Wæver. The results of this study show that the construction of the Firearms Corporations in the lawsuit changes the discourse on responsibility in the fight against organised crime and armed violence in Mexico, providing the State with legitimate reason for changing their policies regarding the War on Crime.