The impact of the amphetamine Captagon on war and peacebuilding in the Middle East

The Middle East has witnessed several violent conflicts over the last 20 years, in tandem with a considerable increase in drug production and trafficking across this region. In particular, the illegal amphetamine Captagon has become closely linked to the intensity and duration of the war in Syria - which has put it firmly on the international security policy agenda. This paper asks how Captagon is produced and trafficked across Lebanon, Syria and Jordan; how this drug intersects with conflict and considers the resulting implications for peacebuilding. The empirical data for this case study comes from qualitative fieldwork between 2017 – 2022 in the form of semi-structured interviews with policy makers in the security and public health sectors, as well as Captagon users in Jordan. The aim was to explore the origins, trafficking and consumption patterns of Captagon. The analysis considers the involvement of a range of armed actors in Lebanon and Syria in the production and smuggling of Captagon, its varied impact on neighbouring countries and on peacebuilding in the region. Consequently, the paper develops and applies the concept of a peace-crime nexus to analyse how illegal drug production and trafficking affects peacebuilding. It draws conclusions about the implications for anti-narcotics and peacebuilding policies in the Middle East.