Terrorism, Crime and Private Armies

Abstract

The nature of crime and conflict is rapidly evolving. Postmodern war is increasingly influenced by non-traditional and irregular combatants: non-state soldiers. These actors are exploiting technology and networked doctrine to spread their influence across traditional geographic boundaries. This emphasis on non-traditional actors accompanies a shift in political and social organization. This shift may well be a shift in state form: from nation-state to market-state. This transition is fueled by rapid developments in technology and the adoption of network organizational forms. Conflict during this transition blurs the distinctions between and among crime, terrorism and warfare. This essay explores the dynamics of terrorism, crime and private armies during this epochal shift.

Notes

 1. Martin van Creveld, The Transformation of War (New York, The Free Press, 1991), p.197.

 2. Bobbitt posits that the market-state is a new state form supplanting the nation-state. Within that analysis, he sees terrorist networks (with Al Qaeda being an early example) as a malevolent form of market-state. See Philip Bobbitt, The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History (New York: Anchor Books, 2002).

 3. See also Paul O'Donnel, ‘Technology Is Killing Democracy’, interview with Philip Bobbitt in Wired, June 2004, p.44.

 4. Brian M. Jenkins, ‘Redefining the Enemy: The World Has Changed, But Our Mindset Has Not’, Rand Review, Spring 2004, available at ⟨www.rand.org/publications/randreview/issues/spring2004/enemy.html⟩.

 5. John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt, ‘A New Epoch – and Spectrum – of Conflict’ in idem (eds), In Athena's Camp: Preparing for Conflict in the Information Age (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 1997), p.5. For a more recent exploration of netwar and its darker consequences, see also John Arquilla and David Ronfledt (eds), Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2001).

 6. Jenkins.

 7. See Robert J. Bunker and John P.Sullivan, ‘Cartel Evolution: Potentials and Consequences’, Transnational Organized Crime, Vol.4, No.2 (Summer 1998), pp.55–74 for a comprehensive treatment of criminal convergence underlying this analysis.

 8. Jenkins.

 9. Jenkins.

10. Sebastian Rotella, ‘Jihad's Unlikely Alliance: Muslim Extremists Who Attacked Madrid Funded the Plot by Selling Drugs, Investigators Say’, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2004, p.A1.

11. Sebastian Rotella, ‘Jihad's Unlikely Alliance: Muslim Extremists Who Attacked Madrid Funded the Plot by Selling Drugs, Investigators Say’, Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2004, p.A1, quoting a DST official.

12. Jenkins term ‘sovereign outlaws’, where criminals command states, complements Bunker and Sullivan's concept of criminal free-states.

13. Marc Sageman, ‘Killing the Hydra: Only Attacks on its Ideas Can Defeat a Network Like Al Qaeda’, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2004, p.M1.

14. Anthony Faiola, ‘Brazilian Gangs Take Turf Wars Out of Slums’, Washington Post, 15 December 2002, p.A37.

15. Robert J. Bunker, ‘Epochal Change: War Over Social and Political Organization’, Parameters, Vol.27, No.2 (Summer 1997), pp.15–24.

16. Robert J. Bunker and John P. Sullivan, ‘Cartel Evolution: Potentials and Consequences’, Transnational Organized Crime, Vol.4, No.2 (Summer 1998), pp.55–74.

17. See John Wilson, Karachi: A Terror Capital in the Making (New Delhi: Rupa & Co., 2003), esp. ch.4: Criminal Syndicates and ch.5: Terror Connection.

18. Stefan Mair, ‘The New World of Privatized Violence’, International Politik und Gesellschaft (International Politics and Society), (2/2003), available at ⟨fesportal.fes.de/pls/portal30/docs/FOLDER/IPG/IPG2-2003/ARTMAIR.HTM⟩.

19. Stefan Mair, ‘The New World of Privatized Violence’, International Politik und Gesellschaft (International Politics and Society), (2/2003), available at ⟨fesportal.fes.de/pls/portal30/docs/FOLDER/IPG/IPG2-2003/ARTMAIR.HTM⟩.

20. Stefan Mair, ‘The New World of Privatized Violence’, International Politik und Gesellschaft (International Politics and Society), (2/2003), available at ⟨fesportal.fes.de/pls/portal30/docs/FOLDER/IPG/IPG2-2003/ARTMAIR.HTM⟩.

21. See Simon Montake, ‘Pirates Ahead!’, Christian Science Monitor, 18 March 2004, for a representative journalistic overview of the rising threat of piracy. Available at ⟨www.csmonitor.com/2004/0318/p13s02-woap.html⟩.

22. Nicolas von Hoffman, ‘Contract Killers: How Privatizing the U.S. Military Subverts Public Oversight’, Harpers Magazine, June 2004, pp.79–80.

23. See ‘Private Caste Armies in Bihar’ at the South Asia Terrorism Portal, ⟨http://www.satp.org⟩.

24. David L. Horowitz, The Deadly Ethnic Riot (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001), p.246.

25. This analysis of a continuum of warlords draws upon the observations found in Paul B. Rich, ‘Warlordism, Complex Emergencies and the Search for a Doctrine of Humanitarian Intervention’, in D.S. Gordon and F.H. Toase (eds), Aspects of Peacekeeping (London: Frank Cass, 2001), pp.253–273.

26. The table  here is a refinement of that presented in Robert J. Bunker and John P.Sullivan, ‘Cartel Evolution: Potentials and Consequences’, Transnational Organized Crime, Vol.4, No.2 (Summer 1998), pp.55–74.

27. David Issenberg, ‘Corporate Mercenaries: Part 1: Profit Comes with a Price’, Asia Times, online, 19 May 2004, available at ⟨atimes.com/atimes/Middle_east/FE19Ak01.html⟩; David Barstow, ‘Security Companies: Shadow Soldiers in Iraq’, 19 April 2004, available at ⟨www.nytimes.com/2004/04/19/international/middleeast/19SECU.html⟩.

28. David Issenberg, ‘Corporate Mercenaries: Part 1: Profit Comes with a Price’, Asia Times, online, 19 May 2004, available at ⟨atimes.com/atimes/Middle_east/FE19Ak01.html⟩; David Barstow, ‘Security Companies: Shadow Soldiers in Iraq’, 19 April 2004, available at ⟨www.nytimes.com/2004/04/19/international/middleeast/19SECU.html⟩.

29. Peter W. Singer, ‘Peacekeepers, Inc.’, Policy Review, June 2003, available at ⟨http://www.brookings.org/views/articles/fellows/singer20030601.htm⟩.

30. Peter W. Singer, ‘Peacekeepers, Inc.’, Policy Review, June 2003, available at ⟨http://www.brookings.org/views/articles/fellows/singer20030601.htm⟩.

31. Peter W. Singer, ‘War, Profit, and the Vacuum of Law: Privatized Military Firms and International law’, Columbia Journal of International Law, Vol.42 (2004), p.523.

32. Peter W. Singer, ‘War, Profit, and the Vacuum of Law: Privatized Military Firms and International law’, Columbia Journal of International Law, Vol.42 (2004), p.525.

33. David Leigh, ‘Who Commands the Private Soldiers?’, The Guardian ,17 May 2004, available at ⟨http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,4925466-103550,00,html⟩.

34. Barry Yeoman, ‘Soldiers of Good Fortune’, Mother Jones, Vol.28, No.3 (May–June 2003), p.42.

35. David Rennie, ‘Weary Special Forces Quit for Security Jobs’, The Telegraph online, 31 March 2004, available at ⟨http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/03/31/wspec31.xml⟩.

36. Dana Priest, ‘Private Guards Repel Attack on U.S. Headquarters’, Washington Post, 6 April 2004, p.A01.

37. Dana Priest and Mary Pat Flaherty, ‘Under Fire, Security Firms Form An Alliance’, Washington Post, 8 April 2004, p.A01.

38. An early observer of this potential is Rutgers scholar Henry Sanchez. See Henry Sanchez, ‘Why Do States Hire Private Military Companies’, (n.d.), available at ⟨http://newarkwww.rutgers.edu/global/sanchez.htm⟩.

39. Cicero, On Duties, 3.107.

40. Mike Davis, ‘Planet of Slums’, Harpers Magazine, June 2004, p.22.

41. Jenkins.