This Week at ISN

10 - 14 September 2012 Organized crime is widely regarded as a major threat to international order. This week we chart the globalization of criminal networks, how they undermine state security and what might be their possible interconnections with terrorist organizations.

The Securitization of Organized Crime

The World's Not-So-Hidden Criminal Economy
10 Sep 2012

Globalization has enabled transnational criminal networks to expand and diversify their activities. In this multimedia piece, we cast a light on the growth of transnational organized crime, its illicit multibillion dollar activities and its increasing global reach and influence. More Family Incorporated: Organized Crime and the Nation-State
11 Sep 2012

Both transnational and national-level organized crime have been on the rise since the end of the Cold War, even if their significance has differed from region to region. Fears about the rise of so-called mafia-states, however, are harder to substantiate, or so argues Prem Mahadevan in this interview. More Beyond Mafia Stereotypes: Organized Crime's Impact on Security
12 Sep 2012

The potential for organized criminal networks to foment intra-state violence and terrorism represents a major challenge to security establishments. Yet, as Philip Gounev points out, these networks do not necessarily need to safeguard their activities and maintain their influence by relying on such violence. More The Crime-Terrorism Nexus
13 Sep 2012

The connection between organized crime and terrorism may seem obvious but the nexus remains blurred, both conceptually and in reality. Therefore, if we want peace operations and stabilization missions to perform more anti-crime and terrorism functions in the future, argues Wibke Hansen, then establishing greater clarity about the nexus is critical. More Thwarting Crime and Terrorism
14 Sep 2012

Arguments that formalized business relationships exist between terrorist and transnational criminal organizations currently lack substance, argues Michel Hess in this podcast. However, hybrid partnerships might eventually emerge if criminals decide to support terrorist group causes. More

Security Watch
A Critique of India's Defence Offset Guidelines 2012
10 Sep 2012

Offset obligations are a significant feature of todays defense contracts, particularly those involving the sale of military hardware to emerging powers. In the case of India, however, IDSA's Laxman K Behera argues that its offset strategies may not be enough to develop the defense industry it wants to create for itself. More The First 100 Days of Putin's Presidency See a Tightening of the Screws
11 Sep 2012

If Dmitry Medvedev was politically conciliatory in his final months as Russia's president, then Vladimir Putin is now charting a more combative approach, says the FIIA's Sean Roberts. Such assertiveness may reflect the Kremlin's fears that Russia is on the brink of more political protests and a possible "color revolution." More Angola Post-Election: What Next?
12 Sep 2012

After winning 72% of the vote in recent elections, Jos Eduardo dos Santoss MPLA appears poised to dominate Angolas future political landscape. This will not only enable the incumbent president to enact extensive employment and social development programs, but also to determine the exact timing of his retreat from frontline politics, argues Marcus Weimer. More Climate Change and Africa's Enduring Instability
13 Sep 2012

Arid conditions in the Sahel and large-scale flooding in East Africa will help sustain Africas reputation for socio-political volatility and state failure. To manage the chaos in the worst-affected regions, argues Fawzia Sheikh, greater international participation will be necessary to boost the continents resiliency. More From Dyad to Triad: What India's Nuclear Developments Mean for Pakistan
14 Sep 2012

The deployment of nuclear-powered ballistic submarines will enhance Indias strategic deterrent capabilities, particularly against Pakistan. According to Shane Mason, this development will inevitably prompt Islamabad to try and tilt the strategic balance in the Indian Ocean region in its own favor. More

ISN Blog
Asian Nationalism at Sea
10 Sep 2012

Nationalist fervor in China and Japan may yet lead to conflict, particularly if it fans the flames of Beijing and Tokyos on-going territorial disputes in the East China Sea. In order to avoid future problems, argues Joseph Nye, the two nations should consult with each other more regularly and prevent nationalist "cowboys" from creating new crises. More China's Next Transformation
11 Sep 2012

Chinas integrated global production system is unprecedented in terms of its scale and complexity. However, any attempts to make this unwieldy economic beast more globally nimble will need to balance institutional innovation with maintaining domestic political order, or so argue Andrew Sheng and Xiao Geng. More The Media Cold War
12 Sep 2012

The world is in the grip of an information war, argues Anne-Marie Slaughter. The fault line lies between those states that regard the free flow of information as a fundamental human right and those that regard official control of information as a sovereign prerogative. More The NATO Global Hub
13 Sep 2012

The US is shifting its strategic focus to the Asia-Pacific region. As a consequence, it is also asking its NATO partners to embrace an increasingly global vision for the alliance. Richard Weitz considers how NATO members should respond both to the USs shift in priorities and to its follow-on request. More The Obama Doctrine's First Term
14 Sep 2012

President Barack Obama has been criticized for failing to deliver on some of the foreign policy promises he made when he first entered office. Joseph Nye wonders, however, if his shift towards a more pragmatic foreign policy outlook may turn out to be a good thing for the United States. More

Videos
Mexican Drug War Update Stratfor tactical analyst Ben West discusses the increasing violence in Mexico and developments in the drug

war during the second quarter and what these developments could mean for the rest of 2012. More Crime and Politics in Latin America Javier Ciurlizza, Crisis Group's Latin American Program Director, discusses the growing power of criminal organizations across Latin America, as well as strategies to combat their influence. More Russia's Rotten Core: Money, Politics and the Rule of Law With the old growth model no longer working well, this Chatham House panel discusses whether Russia can return to the strong economic growth it enjoyed between 1998 and 2008 without tackling corruption and the weak rule of law. More

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