Kenneth Sharpe

William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Political Science

An expert on foreign policy, Latin American politics, and U.S. drug enforcement policies. Sharpe is the co-author of Drug War Politics: The Price of Denial (University of California, 1996), which examines the ineffectiveness of the America's punitive narcotics policy and calls instead for a public-health approach that aims to reduce demand for drugs. He has done extensive field research in Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. Sharpe, who has testified before Congress on numerous occasions about drug enforcement, has written several books analyzing, among other issues, the political economy of the Mexican auto industry, the relationship between U.S. foreign policy and constitutional democracy, and the imperial presidency. He received his Ph.D. in 1974 from Yale University and his M.Sc. in 1967 from the London School of Economics.