The New Security Agenda Transnational Organised Crime and International Security

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The New Security AgendaTransnational Organised
Crime and International Security

• Derek Lutterbeck, PhD
• GCSP

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Overview

• Changing Security Paradigms
• Transnational Organised Crime as a Security
  Challenge
• Transnational Organised Crime and Terrorism

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Changing Security Paradigms

• Traditional Challenges
• state-based
• military
• external
• direct
• territorial
• enemy strength
• military stability
• conquest

• New Challenges
• non-state actors
• socio-economic
• internal / transnational
• diffuse
• non-territorial
• state weakness
• rule of law
• corruption

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European Security StrategyA Secure Europe in a
Better World(12 December 2003)

• Large-scale aggression against any Member State
  is now improbable. Instead, Europe faces new
  threats which are more diverse, less visible and
  less predictable
• Key threats
• Terrorism
• Proliferation of WMD
• Regional conflicts (Middle East, Kashmir, Great
  Lakes region, Korean peninsula)
• State failure
• Organised Crime

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UN High Level PanelA more secure world our
shared responsibility (December 2004)

• Poverty, infectious disease, environmental
  degradation
• Inter-state Conflict
• Conflict within states, including genocide and
  other large-scale atrocities
• Proliferation of nuclear, radiological, chemical,
  biological weapons
• Terrorism
• Transnational organised crime

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US National Security Strategy

• Enemies in the past needed great armies and
  great industrial capabilities to endanger
  America. Now, shadowy networks of individuals can
  bring great chaos and suffering to our shores for
  less than it costs to purchase a single tank.
• (National Security Strategy of the US, 2002)

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Security concerns of EU citizens
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What do People fear most?(Human Security Centre
poll in 11 countries)
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Deepening and Widening of Security

• Sectoral
• Health
• Economy
• Environment
• Politics

• Vertical
• Regional/ international
• Society
• Human

Defence
State
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New Security Actors within States

• Interior/justice ministries
• Finance ministries
• Environment ministries
• Energy ministries
• Health ministries

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Multilateral Security Actors

• International Organisations
• - the UN and peace operations
• - specialised agencies
• Regional Organisations
• - military operations
• - peace-building
• - multilateral police missions

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Private Security Actors

• NGOs
• Multinational corporations
• Private military companies
• Transnational criminal networks
• Terrorist groups

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Convergence of Internal and External Security

• Transnational challenges (such as transnational
  organised crime or transnational terrorism)
• ? blurring of separation between internal and
  external security
• ? convergence of police and military functions
• Increasing involvement of military forces in
  domestic security missions (critical
  infrastructure protection, border control etc.)
• Internationalisation of policing

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Transnational organised crime factors behind its
expansion

• Globalisation
• Economic and financial liberalisation
• Increasing mobility and migration
• Political liberalisation
• State weakness / economic underdevelopment in
  some regions of the world

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Definition of Organised Crime

• UN Convention Against Transnational Organised
  Crime
• Organized criminal group structured group of
  three or more persons acting together, over a
  period of time, with the aim of committing one or
  more serious crimes
• US Organised Crime Control Act
• The unlawful activities of...a highly organized,
  disciplined association...

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The Network of Organised Crime
Fraud Money laundering Protection rackets Front
Companies Smuggling
Organized Crime
Business
Bribery Corruption Partiality
Bribery Cronyism Economic espionage Monopoly Prote
ction
State Authorities
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Transnational crime

• Crossing of state borders
• perpetrators
• products
• people
• proceeds
• digital signals

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Transnational crime

• Transnational crimes committed by
• individuals
• licit enterprises
• organised crime groups
• terrorists
• governments

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Transnational organised crime Principal sources
of revenue (estimates)

• Drug trafficking 321 billion USD (retail level)
• Human trafficking 10 - 15 billion USD
• Illicit arms trafficking 2 -10 billion USD

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Illicit Drug Trade in Comparison
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Threat of transnational organised crime

• Direct security threat to weak states
• Indirect security threat to less vulnerable
  states
• Threat to
• good governance
• state institutions
• legal markets / economic development
• individuals

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Dimensions of state weakness

• Territorial territories escaping control of
  state (lawless areas, no-go zones etc.)
• Legal gaps in legislation which organised crime
  may exploit
• Political lack of legitimacy, corruption
• Economic poor economic performance, large
  illegal economy
• Social culture of criminality / corruption

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Current trends in Organised Crime in the EU
area(Europol assessment)

• Organised crime dominated by indigenous groups,
  but growing links with non-indigenous groups
• Ethnic basis of organised crime
• Linked to illegal immigration / fraudulent asylum
  applications
• Widening of crime portfolio (diversification)
• Trend towards more loose network structures
• Abuse of legal company structures to conduct or
  hide criminal activities

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Transnational Organised Crime as an Issue of
Hard Security

• Organised Crime and Terrorism
• Organised Crime and Violent Conflict
• Organised Crime and Nuclear Material Trafficking

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Transnational Organised Crime and Terrorism Key
Differences

• Transnational Organised crime
• Economic motivation
• Seeks to weaken but not to destroy state
  institutions

• Terrorism
• Political motivation
• Seeks to destroy the state or to change the
  political system in fundamental ways

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Convergence between organised crime and terrorism

• Alliances between organised crime groups and
  terrorists
• Terrorist groups pursuing criminal activities (to
  finance their activities)
• Organised crime groups using terror tactics (to
  shape their operational environment)
• Hybrid groups

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Example of Terrorism/Crime nexus Madrid bombings

• Involvement of both religious extremists and
  criminals
• Key role Moroccan drug trafficking network
  (Jamal Ahmidan)
• Purchase of explosives against hashish
• Other criminal activities robbery, credit and
  phone card fraud, vehicle theft etc.
• Importance of contacts from prison
• Radicalisation of criminals in prison
• Criminals not only in support/logistics but also
  in operational / attack role

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Organised Crime and Violent Conflict

• Changing nature of violent conflict
• Organised crime have impact on
• outbreak
• course
• aftermath
• of armed conflict

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Fighting Transnational Organised
CrimeInternational Police Cooperation

• Expansion of police cooperation in response to
  growth in cross-border crime
• International
• Interpol
• G8 Lyon Group
• Regional
• Europol
• SECI Centre (Bucharest)
• Bilateral cooperation between countries
• Exchange of evidence
• Legal assistance
• Extradition etc.

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Some Dilemmas in Fighting Transnational Organised
Crime

• Combating illicit cross-border activities
  typically also hampers legal cross-border
  exchanges
• More intrusive policing might threaten civil
  liberties
• Criminal employment might be better than high
  unemployment
• Dirty money might be better than no FDI