Welcome to this weekend’s Non-State Update. Below is a list of some of the best articles from this week. Like the rest of Drugs and Thugs Blog, the topics addressed are terrorism, insurgency, transnational criminal organizations, and narcotics trafficking.
Trans-Atlantic Mob Swoop Hits New York’s Gambinos and ‘Ndrangheta: From OCCRP via the Investigative Reporting Project-Italy, news of criminal charges put on organized crime leaders in Italy and the US. Although the Gambino family in New York is a Cosa Nostra descendent, they have allied with ‘Ndrangheta for business purposes.
Displaced by Organized Crime: Unseen and Forgotten: At the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, a shocking post on the refugee crisis that stemmed from the Mexican drug war. According to the post, nearly 200,000 individuals have fled Ciudad Juarez to escape the violence between the Mexican security forces and the cartels.
Al-Qaida is No Longer the Worldwide Leader in Terror: Next, Joshua Keating at Slate’s The World blog with commentary on the recent King’s College London report on terrorist in November 2014. The two most violent terrorist groups were ISIS and Boko Haram, with the al-Qaida affiliated Taliban falling to third. The threat of terrorism appears more decentralized in 2014 than in 2001, but the al-Qaida brand is additionally not as potent as it once was.
AQAP Claims Double Suicide Attack at Military Base in Hadramout: The Long War Journal’s Oren Adaki has a report on the recent suicide bombing attack in Yemen. AQAP claimed credit, following in their recent resurgence against the Houthi group and the Yemen government in recent months. The Yemen situation continues to be one of the most fascinating and least reported on global conflict.
Undercutting the anti-Islamic State Campaign: At the Line of Steel blog, an analytical article on the role that the oil price collapse plays in the battle against ISIS. The price drop negatively impacts the Iraqi state, but it only represents one of the many problems Baghdad needs to address.
Opportunities to Combat Violent Religious Extremism: Knox Thames at Small Wars Journal has a great piece on the US approach towards violent radicalization and human rights. Drones alone will not solve the problem of religious violence.
Saving Iraq and Destroying ISIL are Not the Same Thing: War on the Rocks has a post by Jonathan Lord on the current complications of the Obama Administration’s strategy for Iraq and Syria. Fixing Iraq is possible with this strategy; fixing Syria is certainly not.
State Dept: Rebels are Never Going to Defeat Assad Militarily: In a similar vein to the previous article, a post from John Hudson at FP’s The Cable blog. A senior State official has admitted that with the current strategy, it is impossible to remove Assad by a moderate Syrian force. At best, we can contain the conflict in Syria, but it is unlikely that this ends with the defeat of Assad.
Three Questions as Colombia’s Peace Process Begins: At Insight Crime, Elyssa Pachico has a great piece on the major issues remaining in the FARC peace talks and the future of Colombia after a peace deal. One of the most important concerns is how a FARC demobilization will affect the Bacrim groups. Already, some Bacrim groups have begun taking over territory from demobilizing FARC fronts.
The New King of Coke: Finally, from Vice News, a five-part documentary on the shift of cocaine production from Colombia to Peru. Like always, this Vice documentary is unbelievable in its access. Watch it, it’s excellent.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the weekend.
For comments, thoughts, concerns, criticism, or submissions to D&TB, please comment below, email me at conormlarkin@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter @ConorMLarkin.
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