U.S. Counternarcotics Programs in Eurasia

04/18/14
Daniel Resnick
Central Eurasia
U.S. Policy, Drug Policy, Drug Trade, Border Control, Law Enforcement

Last week Adam Isacson, an expert on United States security assistance at the Washington Office on Latin America and longtime contributor to Just the Facts, Security Assistance Monitor’s predecessor, detailed the main counternarcotics assistance programs in Latin America. This blog adapts Adam’s Latin America post for the Central Eurasia region.

The three main United States counternarcotics assistance programs – the State Department’s International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement and the Defense Department’s Section 1004 and Section 1033 – are also the ones that are currently active in Central Eurasia. Until recently, however, the State Department distributed counternarcotics assistance to the region through the Freedom Support Act (FSA) and Assistance for Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia (AEECA) programs.

 

Current accounts:

1. International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement (INCLE): INCLE became the State Department’s primary counternarcotics program in the region after the AEECA program was discontinued (see below). INCLE is unique in that it funds both security activities (e.g. paying the salaries of law enforcement officers) and economic aid (justice sector development and demand reduction programs, for example).

 

2. Section 1004 Counternarcotics: The Defense Department’s non-permanent, but regularly renewed, authorization to use its own budget for several specific kinds of military and police aid to other countries (and to U.S. civilian law enforcement). Section 1004 is the largest source of counternarcotics assistance to Central Eurasia.

 

3. Section 1033 Counternarcotics: another Defense Department counter-drug military aid program, which pays for a few additional kinds of aid that 1004 doesn’t. Begun in 1998 for Colombia and Peru, since expanded to 39 countries worldwide.

 

Past accounts:

1. FREEDOM Support Act (FSA)/ Assistance for Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia (AEECA): The FSA program was historically the main conduit of assistance to the Eurasia region, and in FY2008 it was combined with the Support for Eastern European Democracy (SEED) program to create AEECA. Even though both FSA and AEECA appear in the State Department’s Congressional Budget Justifications (CBJs) as economic assistance programs, these CBJs also consistently state, “FSA regional funds support the activities of several U.S. Government agencies in the region, including . . . State and Justice Department regional law enforcement training programs that help states combat trafficking in narcotics and persons.” In FY2013, the government discontinued AEECA, moving assistance to Central Eurasia into the global Economic Support Fund, Global Health Programs and INCLE accounts.

  • Administered by the State Department, Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia (EUR/ACE).
  • Funded through annual State / Foreign Operations budget appropriation.
  • Assistance to the Eurasia region was authorized by the Freedom for Russia and Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets Support Act of 1992 (PL 102-511). (The SEED program was authorized by the SEED Act of 1989, PL 101-179).
  • Total economic aid to Central Eurasia by FSA and AEECA between 2000 and 2012: $3.85 billion. Total security aid by FSA and AEECA between 2001 and 2009 (more recent years not available): $399 million.
  • Best official report breaking down the aid: until 2009, the U.S. Government Assistance to and Cooperative Activities with Eurasia reports provided specific breakdowns of FSA and AEECA assistance, allowing SAM to extract any security related funding from FSA and AEECA total spending. Since 2010, these reports no longer provide these itemized breakdowns, so SAM has had to treat all AEECA funding as economic assistance.

 

The international dynamic: the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE):

The OSCE is an international organization encompassing countries from North America, Europe and Central Asia. It aims to increase security in its member states by conducting a wide variety of activities, from strengthening military capacities to enhancing economic opportunities. The OSCE conducts trainings of security forces in Central Eurasia in counternarcotics and border security, and as a member of the organization, the U.S. helps to fund these engagements. The annual U.S. lump contribution to the OSCE is listed in the CBJs, which show that the U.S. has funded the OSCE through different accounts over the years. Until FY2005, funding came exclusively through the Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) account, between FY2005 and FY2012 funding largely came through the FSA, SEED and AEECA accounts, and since the AEECA was discontinued in FY2013, funding has come through the Economic Support Fund account.