This Week: How to Win the War on Drugs

A Surprising Win in Bolivia
Simeon Tegel

Bolivia seems to be winning its war on drugs. The strategy for success? Legalizing coca production and expelling the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Since legalizing the crop in 2004 and banishing the DEA four years later, the government of Evo Morales has seen a sharp decrease in drug violence. Coca, the main source material for cocaine, has long been used by Andean people for medicinal purposes and as a mild stimulant. Local production is strictly regulated. According to grantee Simeon Tegel, the U.S. is miffed but Morales doesn't care: "We in Bolivia, without U.S. military bases and without the DEA…have demonstrated that it is possible to confront drug trafficking with the participation of the people."

High Tech Mistrust
Rachel Townzen

University of Pennsylvania student fellow Rachel Townzen explains why Syrian refugees have a hard time trusting technology even when it is applied to humanitarian aid efforts.

Where is the Border?
Joshua Kucera

With his left foot in Asia and his right foot planted firmly in Europe, grantee Josh Kucera reports from a village in Azerbaijan that straddles the somewhat arbitrary border between East and West.