Paul Rexton Kan demonstrates that the ongoing war in Mexico, now in its sixth year, is a mosaic war, with several wars occurring at once: cartels battle each other, cartels suffer violence within their own organisations, cartels fight against the Mexican state, cartels and gangs wage war against the Mexican people and gangs combat gangs.

Kan argues that policy responses must be carefully calibrated to prevent stoking more cartel violence, to cut the incentives to smuggle drugs into the United States, and to stop the erosion of Mexican governmental capacity.