A B S T R A C T
Drug trafficking is one of the most important security and economic challenges in the northwestern border regions of the country. Purely law-enforcement and reactive approaches have not led to a sustainable reduction of this phenomenon. Therefore, the present study aims to identify the functions of good border governance in preventing drug trafficking in the northwestern border areas. The study is applied in purpose and qualitative in nature. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 16 experts, specialists, and university professors familiar with the subject. Purposive sampling was used, and theoretical saturation was achieved. Data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis at three levels: basic, organizing, and global themes. The validity and reliability of the interviews were confirmed using expert opinions. The findings showed that the functions of good border governance in preventing drug trafficking consist of four global themes: 1) security-control (smart border control, physical surveillance, cross-border and inter-institutional cooperation); 2) development-economic (development of sustainable livelihoods, job creation, support for local products, and transforming the border into a commercial bridge); 3) social-participatory (social empowerment, public participation, education, cultural development, and social investment); and 4) legal-judicial (deterrent law and punishment, transparency, continuous oversight, and anti-corruption). Good border governance cannot be merely security-oriented or merely economic-oriented; rather, the simultaneous integration of smart control, economic development, social participation, and the rule of law is essential for sustainable prevention of drug trafficking. There is a significant gap between the current situation, in which the security-reactive approach dominates, and the desired situation of integrated and participatory governance. Achieving this requires political will, redesigning institutional structures, allocating resources, and empowering local communities.


Extended Abstract

Introduction
Security is one of the most important human needs and a primary function of states, and securing borders and border regions is a permanent concern of countries with long shared borders with their neighbors. With the end of the Cold War and the expansion of globalization, border crimes—especially drug trafficking—have become one of the major economic and security challenges facing states. National and international policy experience shows that reliance solely on policing and security measures, a hard-control approach, and post-crime reactions—without attention to institutional, social, and developmental dimensions—has not led to a sustainable reduction in drug-related crimes in border regions. Such policies have often led to the displacement of trafficking routes, greater complexity of criminal networks, and increased enforcement costs. Therefore, the need to reconsider traditional approaches and move toward more comprehensive models of border management is increasingly felt.
Desirable border governance, as a multidimensional approach, emphasizes transparency, accountability, the rule of law, institutional efficiency, stakeholder participation, and inter-sectoral coordination. By integrating security, development, and social dimensions, it can provide an effective basis for managing border challenges. The present study is based on the fact that policies for combating drug trafficking in the northwestern border regions of Iran have often been security-centered, fragmented, and short-term and have rarely been designed within a coherent border governance model. Weak institutional coordination among executive agencies, limited participation of local communities, ineffective oversight mechanisms, and the absence of an effective link between security and development policies have reduced the effectiveness of preventive measures. The study aims to identify the functions of desirable border governance in preventing drug trafficking in the northwestern borders. Accordingly, the study seeks to answer the following question: What are the functions of desirable border governance in preventing drug-related crimes in the northwestern border regions of Iran?

Methodology
This study was conducted with a qualitative approach and thematic analysis method. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 16 experts and university faculty familiar with the subject. The demographic characteristics of participants show that all were male; 9 held doctoral degrees and 7 held master’s degrees; the mean age was 50 years, and the mean interview duration was 60 minutes. The data analysis process involved three-level coding: basic themes, organizing themes, and global themes. First, interviews were transcribed and openly coded; then similar codes were categorized into organizing themes; finally, global themes were extracted. To increase the credibility of findings, the extracted themes were confirmed by expert and academic participants. The findings of the three-level analysis included 68 basic themes, 8 organizing themes, and 4 global themes. The study’s limitations include its qualitative nature and limited statistical generalizability; however, the internal validity of findings was enhanced through expert participation and theme confirmation.

Results and Discussion
The findings showed that the functions of desirable border governance in preventing drug-related crimes in the northwestern border regions of Iran can be explained through four global themes: first, security-control; second, development-economic; third, social-participatory; and fourth, legal-judicial. These four themes interact to form an integrated model of desirable border governance.
The first global theme, security-control, emphasizes the necessity of transitioning from traditional control to smart control and multilevel cooperation. Its organizing themes include smart control and physical border surveillance, and cross-border and inter-institutional cooperation and coordination. In this framework, emphasis was placed on the use of modern technologies such as surveillance drones, ground sensors, smart monitoring systems, detector dogs, deployment of anti-narcotics police at border markets, strengthening physical surveillance of the rugged northwestern borders, transforming scattered border control into targeted control, real-time information exchange with neighboring countries, concluding operational memoranda of understanding with Turkey and Iraq, and conducting joint operations against drug gangs. In addition, a human security approach beyond a purely military approach and the prevention of borders becoming gray zones were identified as important functions of desirable border governance.
The second global theme, development-economic, shows that poverty and unemployment are the main basis for inclination toward the illegal economy. The organizing theme in this section is economic development and sustainable livelihoods for border residents. Its basic themes include reducing economic incentives for trafficking through sustainable livelihood development; creating employment for border residents; supporting agriculture and encouraging a mixed livelihood economy; economic empowerment of border residents through facilities for border cooperatives; creating official border markets for selling legal goods; supporting local products and handicrafts; creating commercial and logistics infrastructure; facilitating legal border trade; increasing the opportunity cost of crime for border residents; activating special border trade zones in the northwestern provinces; supporting small border industries; transforming the border from a separating line into a commercial bridge; and moving from a smuggling economy toward formal and legal trade. This finding is consistent with social crime prevention theory and rational choice and crime opportunity theories, because reducing economic deprivation and increasing the opportunity cost of crime reduces incentives to commit trafficking.
The third global theme, social-participatory, emphasizes the role of the local community as a strategic partner in border management. Its organizing themes include social empowerment; public participation; and education, culturalization, and social investment. The basic themes in this section include allocating budgets to auxiliary personnel; using public capacity in detecting smuggling; forming drug prevention councils in border rural districts with the participation of elders, clerics, and teachers; involving local communities in border care; building trust between the state and border residents; strengthening local institutions; creating a social defense barrier against the infiltration of smuggling gangs; using the capacity of local trusted figures as indigenous watchful eyes; providing insurance coverage and banking facilities for those cooperating with border guards; increasing legal and security education for border residents; raising the level of education and awareness about the harms of drugs and criminal organizations; holding drug-related training courses for border guard personnel; cultural investment in relevant offices; producing media content to raise awareness among families in border regions; transforming drug crimes from a purely security threat into a social-developmental issue; and preventing drug cultivation in the hinterland and border counties through culturalization. This finding is consistent with social capital theory and network governance and shows that public participation is not merely a complement to security measures but a strategic partner in border management.
The fourth global theme, legal-judicial, shows that without transparent and accountable institutions, other measures will also be ineffective. Its organizing themes include law, deterrent punishment, and judicial support; transparency, monitoring, and continuous evaluation; and anti-corruption and institutional integrity. The basic themes in this section include toughening judicial deterrent punishments for drug traffickers; providing judicial protection for reporters of border crimes; rapid extradition of fugitive traffickers through Interpol; establishing special courts for major drug trafficking crimes; confiscating traffickers’ assets and cutting financial supply chains; facilitating judicial procedures for border guards and providing legal support in confrontations; continuously evaluating the performance of border units with indicators of transparency, accountability, and social effectiveness; designing indicators of desirable border governance; establishing an electronic oversight system for the performance of customs and passport officers; making customs clearance processes transparent to prevent rent-seeking and collusion; annually assessing the level of corruption in border and administrative forces with independent bodies; preventing the infiltration of corruption into border and administrative forces through effective oversight; creating financial and administrative transparency mechanisms in border units; integrating information and operational systems to reduce corruption and abuse; implementing a regular rotation system for border personnel to prevent stable relationships with traffickers; and supporting corruption whistleblowers within the border structure.
Overall, the findings are consistent with previous domestic studies. Studies emphasizing the necessity of strict laws, strengthening border equipment, border resident participation, development-oriented approaches, good governance, social participation, and economic empowerment are consistent with the findings of this study. The findings are also consistent with foreign studies on the importance of cross-border and international cooperation, formalizing informal interactions, the effect of economic-livelihood conditions on border residents’ inclination toward illegal activities, and the necessity of comprehensive border management. The novelty of this study lies in conceptualizing desirable border governance as an integrated model of inter-organizational coordination, procedural transparency, mutual accountability, and institutional participation, and in presenting its operational and objective functions at the field and institutional levels. Theories of good governance, network and multilevel governance, social crime prevention, rational choice and crime opportunity, and human security provide a coherent analytical framework for explaining these findings.

Conclusion
The present study, aimed at examining the functions of desirable border governance in preventing drug-related crimes in the northwestern border regions of Iran, showed that these functions can be classified into four global themes: security-control, development-economic, social-participatory, and legal-judicial, and that all four dimensions act complementarily. Desirable border governance cannot be merely security-oriented or merely economic; rather, the simultaneous integration of smart control, economic development, social participation, and the rule of law is essential. Reliance solely on traditional and military approaches is insufficient, and sustainable prevention of drug trafficking requires institutional cooperation, cross-border coordination, empowerment of local communities, and promotion of institutional transparency and accountability. Accordingly, it is recommended that border policymakers move from a purely security-oriented approach to a combined approach of smart security and development-based security; strengthen inter-institutional coordination among law enforcement, customs, the judiciary, and development agencies; institutionalize the participation of local communities and local institutions in border management; prioritize economic empowerment and employment of border residents; implement transparency, electronic oversight, regular personnel rotation, and anti-corruption measures in the border structure; and strengthen judicial and legal support for reporters and border guards. Future studies can test the proposed model in other border regions using quantitative or mixed methods and make the indicators for measuring desirable border governance more operational.

Funding
There is no funding support.



Authors’ Contribution
All of the authors approved thecontent of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work..

Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.