Mexican Drug Violence — The Implications for U.S. National Security

Mr. Chaplin was born in Charleston, S.C. and received his B.A. from Kenyon College and an M.A. in American history from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He served three years in the U.S. Air Force and joined the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) as a Foreign Service Officer.  While in USIA he studied at the George Washington University's Sino-Soviet Studies Institute.

During a 32-year career with USIA he served in several foreign and domestic assignments.  His foreign assignments included Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Hermosillo (Mexico), Bucharest, Lisbon and Caracas.  In Lisbon and Caracas he served as the embassy's Counselor for Public Affairs.  His domestic assignments included Chief of Staff to the Director and Deputy Director of USIA; Chief of Foreign Service Personnel; Staff Director for the Agency's Resource Management Committee and Director of the Officer of Inter-American Affairs. He retired as a member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor.

He has been Chair of the Mexican Advanced Area Studies course at the Department of State's training facility, the Foreign Service Institute for the past ten years. He has lectured on Mexico to various organizations and was a co-author of the 2008 American Academy of Diplomacy and Stimson Center's report on "A Foreign Affairs Budget for the Future.

His wife Carol retired earlier this year as an attorney from the Department of Veterans Affairs.  They have two sons: Christopher who recently took the California bar exam and plans to work in entertainment law and Jonathan who is involved in the wine business inAspen, Colorado.om the Department of Veterans Affairs.  They have two sons: Christopher who recently took the California bar exam and plans to work in entertainment law and Jonathan who is involved in the wine business inAspen, Colorado.