Traditional harm-prevention models are proving inadequate against this new reality. As Professor Xavier Raufer demonstrates through decades of research, the issue extends far beyond individual users or local dealers. It is the manifestation of a global criminal economy. Behind the street-level trade lies a network of transnational syndicates whose operations are intertwined with arms trafficking, money laundering, and the financing of terrorism.

Raufer argues that the drug trade has evolved into a form of hybrid warfare waged against states. Built upon the deadly triangle of narcotics, weapons, and illicit finance, these cartels actively undermine sovereignty and stability across entire regions. The Western world’s current policies, he warns, are failing—evidenced by falling prices and rising purity on the market. In this context, legalization would not be reform, but capitulation.

In a provocative and unflinchingly realistic lecture, Professor Raufer will outline the only viable path forward: the restoration of political will and the reassertion of state authority.

This event is a side program of the MCC Budapest Summit on the Global Drug Epidemic: Protecting Our Communities and Building a Safer Future.

Join the Summit as well, details available at https://budapestsummit.mcc.hu/en/

Language: English

Participants:

  • Xavier Raufer, Criminologist, Essayist
  • Moderator: Lilla Kakuk, Chief of Staff of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs