1. Shadow Networks: The Growing Nexus of Terrorism and Organised Crime
- Author:
- Christina Schori Liang
- Publication Date:
- 09-2011
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
- Abstract:
- Terrorism and transnational organised crime can no longer be studied in isolation. Both criminal and terrorist groups are increasingly cooperating. Some groups are transforming into new crime-terror groups displaying the characteristics of both. A decade ago terrorism and organised crime were perceived to be driven by different motivations: terrorists were perceived to have political, ideological, religious or ethnic goals and organised criminals mostly economic goals. Terrorism was viewed not as a criminal activity but as a form of political violence. Today, most terrorists are engaged in some form of organised crime and a growing number of organised crime cartels are engaging in political violence. Trafficking drugs is the most common criminal act that is uniting organised criminals with terrorists. These groups are being labelled by law enforcement officials in such new terms as narcoterror, narcoguerillas and narcofundamentalism. Narco–terrorism, for example, could be defined as the use of drug trafficking to finance and advance the political and ideological objectives of non-state actors, criminal groups and terrorists in such a way that they threaten the rule of law, the state and the region.
- Topic:
- Crime, International Cooperation, Terrorism, Narcotics Trafficking, and Sex Trafficking
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan