Convergence: Illicit Networks and National Security in the Age of Globalization

Abstract

Public reporting burden for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington VA 22202-4302. Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to a penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. The trade in illegal narcotics is perhaps most worrisome, but of growing concern is the illicit trafficking of counterfeit items, weapons, natural resources, money, cultural property, and even people by shrewd, well-resourced, and nefarious adversaries. REPORT DATE Same as Report (SAR)18I have experience combating these threats personally at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels. As a young naval officer on a variety of ships, I spent a fair amount of time patrolling the global commons where transnational criminals in the guise of pirates and drug smugglers proliferate. I was in the Pentagon on 9/11 and personally experienced the global reach of modern terrorism. Later on, when I commanded U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), one of my subordinate commands was Joint Interagency Task Force-South in Key West, Florida, a multinational and interagency/interministerial command that counters drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere. I also experienced the pernicious effects that transnational crime has on our friends as it ranges throughout the entire Western Hemisphere. After leaving USSOUTHCOM to become commander at U.S. European Command (USEUCOM), I saw that Europe was also challenged by the same types of transnational crime. In response, I stood up the Joint/Interagency Counter Trafficking Center in Stuttgart, Germany, designed to counter transnational criminal networks in cooperation with our international partners.When I took command of USEUCOM, I also became the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR). As SACEUR, I command Operation Active Endeavor, which counters trafficking in the Mediterranean, and Operation Ocean Shield, which is part of the international counterpiracy efforts off the Somali coast. In addition, we have pioneered responses to cyber threats. At the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, we have the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Computer Incident Response Center, and at USEUCOM, we are taking steps to create a subunified cyber command that will have links to both U.S. Cyber Command in the United States and USEUCOM in Germany.All of these organizations were designed to facilitate a whole-of-government approach, where all elements of national power work together in ...

Illicit economies: customary illegality, moral economies and circulation

“…; Nairn ), and with a policy literature that repeatedly elides illicit trade with organised crime and terrorist financing (Kelly et al . ; Miklaucic and Brewer ; World Economic Forum ).…”

The convergence of environmental crime with other serious crimes: Subtypes within the environmental crime continuum

“…The rising global scarcity of natural resources increasingly attracts transnational criminal organizations, which rapidly shift from 'traditional' organized crime activities, such as drug or human trafficking, to the illegal trade in natural resources (Elliott, 2009;Nellemann et al, 2016). For example, organized crime syndicates 1 diversify into the lucrative business of tropical timber, endangered species, and natural minerals alongside their traditional activities (Interpol, 2016;Miklaucic and Brewer, 2013;UNODC, 2012). 2 The developing interconnectedness between environmental crime and other serious crimes shows that traditional lines of separation are no longer appropriate for understanding and dealing with the increasing complexities of organized crime (Interpol, 2015;Shelley, 2017).…”

Amenazas y conflictos híbridos: características distintivas, evolución en el tiempo y manifestaciones preponderantes

“…En suma, en cierto modo se borran las líneas demarcatorias entre Estado y actor no estatal, lo cual genera una nueva forma híbrida de actor internacional, consistente en una gran empresa criminal con fachada de aparato estatal. Se configura un actor híbrido orientado a las actividades ilícitas, que combina la flexibilidad y adaptabilidad de las redes criminales con la protección legal y los privilegios que pueden proporcionar los aparatos estatales (Naím 2012;Miklaucic y Naím 2013). A priori, el modelo de nuevo actor internacional que plantea el escritor y columnista venezolano podría hacerse extensivo a otras tipologías semejantes al Estado Mafioso.…”