This Week, Pure and Uncut: August 30, 2014

After a brief break in posts, we’re back here at Drugs and Thugs Blog with your regularly scheduled content (and a new recap post name). Here’s a quick list of some of the more interesting news and commentary articles from this week. Like the rest of Drugs and Thugs Blog, the topics addressed will focus on narcotics trafficking, international criminal organizations, insurgencies, and terrorism. 

Boko Haram and the Caliphate: First off, an interesting article from The Long War Journal on Boko Haram’s announcement of their caliphate. Although some have speculated that this is the group pledging allegiance to the Islamic State and al-Baghdadi, it appears that there is no link between the two groups, as noted in an additional article from The Long War Journal.

Central American Gangs’ Codes: From InSight Crime, a description of El Salvadoran and Honduran codes used to transmit messages from leaders in prison to gang members on the outside. While not necessarily surprising, it is fascinating to see these groups respond to law enforcement methods. 

Saudi Arabia and Blowback: David Ignatius writes on Saudi Arabia’s role in both spreading Salafism across the region and its simultaneous place in combating IS. 

Pablo Escobar’s Chief Assassin and a Treasure Hunt: The most notorious assassin for Escobar’s Medellin Cartel was released from prison this week after 22 years. Following his release, there have been reports of individuals searching for Escobar’s cache of treasure. 

The Mexican Border and al-Qaeda: Joshua Keating at Slate takes on the claim that Islamist terrorists could enter the US via the Mexican border. As he notes, “The scant reports of terrorists trying to enter the U.S. illegally are far outnumbered by the numerous well-documented plots by native-born Americans, naturalized citizens, and foreigners entering the country with valid passports and visas.” 

IS’s Hybrid Army: Ben Hubbard and Eric Schmitt at The New York Times looks at IS’s unique combination of traditional military means with terrorist operations, as well as its loose organizational structure. 

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Enjoy the long weekend, and thanks for reading.

The Westphalian State and Iraq

More than enough ink, digital or otherwise, has been spilt on macro-level commentary of the destabilizing events around the globe this summer, namely in Iraq, Gaza, and Ukraine. This is not remotely close to being the first blog to look at the conflicts as a collective phenomenon. What does appear to be striking, especially to this editor of the Drugs and Thugs Blog, is the level in which these conflicts, among many others worldwide, are primarily dictated by non-state actors. The Westphalian state is certainly not broken, but non-state actors appear to be more capable now than they have been at any time in the preceding six hundred years. This alone is a dramatic result in the field of international security.

One of the more fascinating elements of the conflicts of 2014 is the ability of these non-state actors to take on state-like behavior. More than anything, this is exemplified in Iraq by the Islamic State. Although the Islamic State considers itself the caliphate, it only represents a subsection of Iraq, run by an offshoot of al-Qaeda. Vice News’s recently released five part documentary is an excellent depiction of the governance of IS. Although all five parts are exceedingly interesting, there are some more intriguing sections of the documentary in terms of international security. First off is the sheer bureaucracy and governance that has been put in place in IS-controlled areas. Magistrates, city councils, welfare systems, and vice police were displayed in the documentary. Despite the small span of time since IS broke out onto the international scene, they have established intricate systems of governance and control over their populace. One of the more notable scenes in Vice’s documentary is their coverage of the IS claims court. Although IS is an insurgent group with nearly millenarian goals, their governance appears as benign as the DMV. This is indicative of many non-state actors; although they attempt to overthrow the existing regime, they explicitly exemplify the state in their individual organization and management. Revolution and imitation are the most sincere forms of flattery, at least in case of insurgency and revolution. 

Progressing from this realization of state-like behavior is the more noticeable power of non-state actors to influence and destabilize existing states. This is not a new phenomenon by any measure, but it is certainly striking this year. IS swept rapidly from its long-term battle against Asad’s Syria to severely threaten Maliki’s Iraq, all with limited resources and backing. The power of this relatively ragtag group of jihadists was enough to force an attempted coup in Baghdad and the aid of an increasingly isolationist US. Clearly, it is impossible for states to ignore the IS. In the Vice documentary, there is a scene in which IS clears the Iraq-Syrian border in an effort to build the continuity of the Iraq state. More interestingly, they mention the Sykes-Picot Agreement as a driving impetus to destroy the borders in the Middle East. Non-state actors are aware of the international agreements in which they have formed, and deny the supremacy of those international agreements. It is foolish to think that these organizations  don’t have an understanding of the international relations realm in which they have begun to operate, just as it is foolish to ignore their ability to act similar to state-like operations. The takeaway realization from IS’s time in Iraq is that insurgency and terrorist groups, more than ever, are adaptable to the necessities of their surroundings. This should be concerning; they can react to our actions more deftly than at any time previous. 

This Week, Rehashed: August 1, 2014

This Week, Rehashed: August 1, 2014

Another Friday, another Rehash post. Here’s a quick list of some of the more interesting news and commentary articles from this week. Like the rest of Drugs and Thugs Blog, the topics addressed will focus on narcotics trafficking, international criminal organizations, insurgencies, and terrorism.

First up, a Foreign Policy post discussing Venezuela’s former intelligence chief and alleged drug trafficker from an Aruban jail. This article explains how and why Venezuela went to such trouble to protect a narcotics trafficker from US custody. The article also was included in my take on the Venezuelan narco-state from earlier this week. 

An interesting piece from InSight Crime that summarizes Don Berna’s book, in which he claims that his brother was the one who killed Pablo Escobar, not Colombian police. Berna, the former head of the Oficina de Envigado cartel, was part of the People Persecuted By Pablo Escobar (PEPES) group that fought against the Medellin Cartel. Whether true or not, it’s certainly an intriguing story. 

Declan Hill reposted an article from 2013 in which he navigates the Catholic and Protestant sides of Belfast during the England-Ireland soccer match. Despite the 15 years since the Good Friday Agreement, there is still tension between the two groups in Northern Ireland, all the more relevant with marching season approaching. 

A War On The Rocks article by Frank Hoffman on the difference between the hybrid war we’re seeing in Ukraine and the idea of political warfare as devised by George Kennan following the end of World War II. Our conception of what war should look like, even after a decade of fighting shadow wars, doesn’t match reality. Unconventional warfare is becoming more and more conventional. 

An InSight Crime article on Mexican drug cartels diversifying more deeply into human trafficking. As the cartels spread out into new avenues for profit, they become significantly more menacing to Mexico, the US, and the people that they traffic. With the current wave of refugees coming across the border, human trafficking should be a larger concern. 

Finally, an article by David Ignatius on Washington Post and the threat of the Islamic State. He compares the warnings from US intelligence about the Islamic State to the panic from the intelligence agencies immediately prior to September 11th. He ends the article by noting,  “The awful truth is that the conflict taking shape in Iraq and Syria will last for years. The challenge for Obama (and, alas, his successor) is how to fight terrorism over the next decade without making the ruinous mistakes of the previous one.” 

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