Cass Series on Peacekeeping: Peace Operations and Organised Crime : Enemies or Allies? (2011, Hardcover) by TXT, PDF
9780415601702 0415601703 Peace operations are increasingly on the front line in the international community "s fight against organized crime; this book explores how, in some cases, peace operations and organized crime are clear enemies, while in others, they may become tacit allies. The threat posed by organized crime to international and human security has become a matter of considerable strategic concern for national and international decision-makers, so it is somewhat surprising how little thought has been devoted to addressing the complex relationship between organized crime and peace operations. This volume addresses this gap, questioning the emerging orthodoxy that portrays organized crime as an external threat to the liberal peace championed by western and allied states and delivered through peace operations. Based upon a series of case studies it concludes that organized crime is both a potential enemy and a potential ally of peace operations, and it argues for the need to distinguish between strategies to contain organized crime and strategies to transform the political economies in which it flourishes. The editors argue for the development of intelligent, transnational, and transitional law enforcement that can make the most of organized crime as a potential ally for transforming political economies, while at the same time containing the threat it presents as an enemy to building effective and responsible states. The book will be of great interest to students of peacebuilding, peace and conflict studies, organised crime, Security Studies and IR in general., This volume examines the relationship between international peace operations and organised crime ' which in some cases are clear enemies, and in others, tacit allies.Peace operations are increasingly on the front line in the international community's fight against organized crime, in venues such as Afghanistan, the Balkans, Haiti, Iraq, and West Africa. The threat posed by organized crime to international and human security has become a matter of considerable strategic concern for national and international decision-makers in recent years, but the literature is fragmented and reactive, with only isolated attempts to provide systematic thinking. This book addresses that gap in the literature ' and questions the emerging orthodoxy that portrays organized crime as an external threat to the liberal peace offered by the international community, delivered through peace operations.The orthodox position suggests that organized crime emerges out of rational actors' exploitation of the weak conditions of governance inherent in conflict-affected territories. The danger of characterizing contemporary conflict as 'systematically criminalized' is that it may blur significant differences between different actors involved in this 'criminal system', giving rise to simplistic policy prescriptions, and end up regarding entire populations engaged in conflict as 'criminals' who must be repressed by the international community acting through peace operations and other forms of international intervention. Effective maintenance of international peace and security requires a more nuanced analysis of the role of organized crime in local and transnational political economies, and an understanding of how existing international tools will interact with them. This book provides scholars, practitioners and policy makers with a more well-rounded evidentiary base detailing the complex interactions between peace operations and organized crime, a more nuanced analytical framework for making sense of those interactions, and thus an improved basis for effective policy-making and operational response.The book will be of great interest to students of peacebuilding, peace and conflict studies, organised crime, and IR/Security Studies.
9780415601702 0415601703 Peace operations are increasingly on the front line in the international community "s fight against organized crime; this book explores how, in some cases, peace operations and organized crime are clear enemies, while in others, they may become tacit allies. The threat posed by organized crime to international and human security has become a matter of considerable strategic concern for national and international decision-makers, so it is somewhat surprising how little thought has been devoted to addressing the complex relationship between organized crime and peace operations. This volume addresses this gap, questioning the emerging orthodoxy that portrays organized crime as an external threat to the liberal peace championed by western and allied states and delivered through peace operations. Based upon a series of case studies it concludes that organized crime is both a potential enemy and a potential ally of peace operations, and it argues for the need to distinguish between strategies to contain organized crime and strategies to transform the political economies in which it flourishes. The editors argue for the development of intelligent, transnational, and transitional law enforcement that can make the most of organized crime as a potential ally for transforming political economies, while at the same time containing the threat it presents as an enemy to building effective and responsible states. The book will be of great interest to students of peacebuilding, peace and conflict studies, organised crime, Security Studies and IR in general., This volume examines the relationship between international peace operations and organised crime ' which in some cases are clear enemies, and in others, tacit allies.Peace operations are increasingly on the front line in the international community's fight against organized crime, in venues such as Afghanistan, the Balkans, Haiti, Iraq, and West Africa. The threat posed by organized crime to international and human security has become a matter of considerable strategic concern for national and international decision-makers in recent years, but the literature is fragmented and reactive, with only isolated attempts to provide systematic thinking. This book addresses that gap in the literature ' and questions the emerging orthodoxy that portrays organized crime as an external threat to the liberal peace offered by the international community, delivered through peace operations.The orthodox position suggests that organized crime emerges out of rational actors' exploitation of the weak conditions of governance inherent in conflict-affected territories. The danger of characterizing contemporary conflict as 'systematically criminalized' is that it may blur significant differences between different actors involved in this 'criminal system', giving rise to simplistic policy prescriptions, and end up regarding entire populations engaged in conflict as 'criminals' who must be repressed by the international community acting through peace operations and other forms of international intervention. Effective maintenance of international peace and security requires a more nuanced analysis of the role of organized crime in local and transnational political economies, and an understanding of how existing international tools will interact with them. This book provides scholars, practitioners and policy makers with a more well-rounded evidentiary base detailing the complex interactions between peace operations and organized crime, a more nuanced analytical framework for making sense of those interactions, and thus an improved basis for effective policy-making and operational response.The book will be of great interest to students of peacebuilding, peace and conflict studies, organised crime, and IR/Security Studies.