Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Opium trade'

(Uncorrected OCR) Abstract of thesis entitled 'The Opium Monopoly in Hong Kong, 1844 - 1887', submitted by CHEUNG TSUI PING, LUCY for the degree of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY at the University of Hong Kong in SEPTEMBER, 1986. The period between 1884 - 1887 was one of rapid consolidations following the establishment of Hong Kong as a British Crown Colony. The British colonial administration and the local mercantile community began to establish a firm base for a major commodity - opium. My thesis examines in detail the initiation and development of the monopoly/farm. This internal, small- - scale retail sale of opium was handled by Chinese hongs. The monopoly/farm was the colonial government's device to raise revenue through granting the right to the highest bidder to sell a certain amount of opium within Hong Kong. Although small in scale, the opium monopoly/farm had been a vital source of income to the colonial administration since its inception in 1844.�Besides being an important source of revenue indispensable to the smooth running of a government, the monopoly/farm created social and economic repercussions within the Chinese communities in Hong Kong which brought about far-reaching results in the history of the colony during its formative years. Moreover, the opium monopoly/farm produced a number of wealthy Chinese businessmen in Hong Kong. Some of them, especially those in the 1870s and 1880s, were men of philanthropic disposition and they were socially involved in such a way that they became part of the channel of communication between the Hong Kong government and the Chinese communities. ii<br>abstract<br>toc<br>History<br>Master<br>Master of Philosophy

This thesis examines the relationship between processes of state consolidation and the illicit opium/heroin economy in Shan State since 1988. Over the past twenty-five years, the government of Myanmar (Burma) has established greater authority over large parts of Shan State, neutralizing much of the threat posed by armed groups and strengthening its hold over revenue extraction. During this period Myanmar has retained its position as the world's second largest producer of illicit opium/heroin, the majority of which is produced in Shan State. This thesis seeks to answer the overarching research question: What role has the opium/heroin economy played in fortifying and/or fragmenting processes of state consolidation in Shan State, Myanmar, in the period since 1988? In addressing this question, my study tests the hypothesis that rather than necessarily being a cause of disorder and state breakdown, illegal drug economies can play an important role in processes of state consolidation. In order to test this hypothesis I break down my overarching research question into four sub-questions: First, why have the Shan borderlands with China and Thailand become central to the government's statebuilding aspirations? Second, what strategies has the government deployed in order to extend its power and authority in borderland regions? Third, how have these strategies been imposed, resisted and brokered within the Shan borderlands? Fourth, what is the relationship between contested processes of state consolidation and the drug economy in Shan State in the period since 1988? In addressing these questions I argue that it is increasingly anachronistic to view the drug economy narrowly as part of the insurgent war economy. Alongside the continued role it plays in financing armed opposition to the government, the drug trade has also become deeply embedded within processes of illiberal state consolidation and capitalist development. Through an analysis of the specific spatial dynamics of power relations, material interests and institutional arrangements, this study renders visible the messy and fragmented multiplicity of motivations and actors (including insurgents, ceasefire groups, the military, government-sanctioned militias, national and transnational investors, and local populations) which have shaped changing configurations of power across Shan State. In doing so, it provides new ways to account for the uneven political topography of the Myanmar state, the repertoires of violence enacted across Shan State and the different kinds of 'institutions of extraction' that have emerged around borderland resources.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.<br>The current Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan has multiple funding sources. The importance of the opium production and smuggling has been touted as essential to the continuation of the Taliban insurgency in today's media. This thesis aims to understand the true value of the opium trade to the Taliban and to explore alternative revenues sources for the Taliban both inside and from outside of Afghanistan and whether the opium trade is essential to sustain the current level of activity by the insurgency. The problem that the coalition faces is not as one-dimensional as is portrayed in the media when it comes to financially crippling the Taliban insurgency. It is also important to break down the complex situation the population in Afghanistan faces and how this contributes to the growth of the opium production. Understanding the tribal, agricultural and governmental factors helps to determine the true nature of the opium trade. Media sources often equate the Taliban and the essential link to the opium trade, coercion of the populous and opium revenue as critical factors for the success of the Taliban. The Taliban have had a mixed history in their tolerance of opium production and poppy cultivation. During their control of 95 percent of Afghanistan from 1996 through 2001, they moved from tolerating poppy cultivation to imposing a complete ban. After the coalition invasion and the Taliban resurgence as an insurgency they have encouraged poppy cultivation in the areas they exert control over. However, the revenue from the opium is not the only revenue source, and the other revenue sources are quite significant and surprising. In addition the history of Afghanistan is rife with examples of the nature of funding for warfare, which need to be understood as a cultural norm. Ultimately this thesis aims to demonstrate that the focus of coalition efforts to interdict opium trafficking should not be their main focus, rather only the successful training and implementation of local competent security forces will affect the funding revenue from both narcotics and the myriad of other illicit sources.

Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses.<br>PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you.<br>This paper will show that the trade in psychoactive substances has in fact been a major facilitator of the process now known as globalization. Not only has the drug trade fed off of globalization, globalization feeds off of and is driven by it. The perspective I will take here is a historical one. My thesis, that the drug trade has been an influential force on what is known as "globalization," is a reevaluation of the relationship between three historical processes: 1} The development over several centuries of a global system for the production, trade, and distribution of drugs 2} The "cold war" for economic and geopolitical hegemony between capitalist and communist power structures 3} The development and expansion of a global economic system, known in its current liberal phase as "globalization"<br>2031-01-02

Defence Date: 17 December 2021<br>Examining Board: Prof. Andrea Mattozzi, (EUI and University of Bologna); Prof. David Levine(EUI); Prof. Oliver Vanden Eynde (PSE); Prof. Salvatore Modica (University of Palermo)<br>The idea of this PhD thesis is to document the link between the counter-narcotics operations that took place in Afghanistan in the years 2008-2015 and the Afghan civil conflict, which has led to the terrible outcome of the year 2021. In the first chapter, I propose a microeconomic model to describe the effect of counternarcotics law enforcement on the supply of drugs when territorial control is contested. I assume, as is seen on the field, that if insurgents take power, then drug producers are protected against counter-narcotics operations, but that they have to pay taxes on their production. I show that under some circumstances the influence of drug producers on the outcome of conflict induces a complementarity between investment in narcotics production and insurgent support. This complementarity has two effects: 1) It mitigates the efficacy of counter-narcotics operations 2) It generates a trade-off between the war on drugs and counterinsurgency. In the second chapter, I address point 1) by estimating the elasticity of opium supply to counter-narcotics operations in Afghanistan. I find that law enforcement had little impact, with a 1% increase in opium eradication causing a reduction of roughly a third of a percent in opium supply the following year. Moreover, this effect is driven by northern regions, far from the Taliban’s strongholds which concentrate most of the country’s production. In the third chapter, I turn to point 2) and estimate the effect of counter-narcotics operations on the population’s self-declared support for military actors. I find that those provinces where law enforcement induced the eradication of 10% or more of the total opium-cultivated area exhibit greater sympathy for opposition armed groups, such as the Taliban, and less trust in the national army. This effect is driven by the Pashtun sub-population, which agricultural sector relies heavily on opium cultivation. These results empirically confirm the existence of a trade-off between counter-narcotics and counterinsurgency. Since law enforcement was originally meant to weaken the Taliban insurgency, these results should be of interest to policymakers.<br>1. Counternarcotics and Counterinsurgency : Competing Objectives of State Development? 2. Afghanistan : Did Counter-Narcotics Counter Narcotics? Not So Much 3. Counter-Narcotics Operations Might Have Strengthened the Taliban Insurgency

In this study, the first clashes between Western explorers and the Far East, as well as relations between Britain and China from the eve of the First Opium War (FOW) to the establishment of the British diplomatic residence in Beijing under the treaty regime, have been discussed from a legal point of view. This thesis provides a look at the circumstances of Britain’s encounter with China, their defeat of China through two Opium Wars and their use of unequal treaties to put China into a position of disadvantage. A study of British archives demonstrates the complexity of, and nuance in international law between China and the West from the 1830s to 1860. British national archives allow investigation of the legal perspective on the issues around the opium trade and the way in which it led to the FOW. The archives also shed light on the Second Opium War (SOW) and on the Western acquisition of privileges through the unequal treaties signed at the end of both wars. In its relations with China, Britain left behind the rules and practices which they recognised as the contemporary law of nations and instead, whenever the British financial and economic interest was affected, resorted to force. This paper’s purpose is to show the limitation, according to Chinese Confucian thought, of the self-perception of the Western conception of law and the justice. In fact, this thesis will also show how some British legal advisors and politicians took the side of China and how they argued that Britain had violated the principles of international law. They recognised that China was a sovereign nation and that international law applied in its relations with Britain. Thus this study uncovers aspects of history of international law in the 19th century neglected because of the later prospering of racial theories.

DEEPWATER is a novel that takes place in Port Townsend, Washington Territory, in 1887. This thesis contains the first sections of the novel, in which detective Alma Rosales goes undercover to infiltrate an opium-smuggling ring. She arrives in the remote outpost where the ring operates, falls in with some waterfront thieves, and gets to work. Soon it becomes apparent that Alma's reports to her Pinkerton employers aren't telling the whole truth. And as she gets cozier with the outlaws of Port Townsend, Alma's own identity and motives come into question. Thematically this novel is an exploration of constructed identity: the many parts one person plays in her daily life and over time, and how some parts become habit while others may never feel natural. Alma's disguises make explicit her various performances of personality, physicality and gender. Stylistically I've chosen to reflect Alma's personas, performed or otherwise, in corresponding narrative modes (points of view). Also explored are the performative aspects of dialogue, the blending or warping of genres and genre expectations, and the experience of inhabiting a physical body that is sometimes wildly at odds with the mind.