A U.S. Joint Forces Command report on worldwide security threats says that Mexico is one of two countries that "bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse."

That portion of the command’s new study was first reported in Wednesday editions of the El Paso (Texas) Times.

The command’s "Joint Operating Environment (JOE 2008)" report, which contains projections of global threats and potential next wars, puts Pakistan on the same level as Mexico, the Times reported.

"In terms of worse-case scenarios for the Joint Force and indeed the world, two large and important states bear consideration for a rapid and sudden collapse: Pakistan and Mexico," reads the JOE report.

The report continues: "In particular, the growing assault by the drug cartels and their thugs on the Mexican government over the past several years reminds one that an unstable Mexico could represent a homeland security problem of immense proportions to the United States."

The report offers "a Polaroid snapshot," and conditions in Mexico and elsewhere are in a state of flux, Brig. Gen. José Riojas told the El Paso Times. Riojas is executive director of the National Center for Border Security and Immigration at the University of Texas at El Paso. "I’m not sure Mexico looks today like it did nine months ago," Riojas said.

The report is the latest focusing on Mexico’s security problems, which stem mostly from drug violence and corruption, the paper noted. Recently, the Department of Homeland Security and former U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey issued similar assessments.

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