International Terrorism and Transnational Crime: Security Threats, U.S. Policy, and Considerations for Congress

Abstract

The involvement of insurgent and extremist groups in criminal activity is an issue that has been a concern of U.S. administrations for decades. In recent years, some observers have claimed that interactions between international terrorists and criminals are increasing. If true, expanded links between criminal and terrorist networks could increase U.S. vulnerability to attack by terrorist groups with enhanced criminal capabilities and financial resources. An expanded range of combined criminal and terrorist activity could also affect the global economy and U.S. foreign policy goals, undermining licit international commerce and the promotion of good governance and rule of law. Threats posed by a crime-terrorism nexus may be particularly challenging, as the scale and nature of their cooperation are believed to vary widely and limited anecdotal evidence largely serves as the basis for current understanding of the problem.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 18, 2010
Accession Number
ADA517352

Entities

People

  • John Rollins
  • Liana S. Wyler

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter WMD
  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Congress
  • Counterterrorism
  • Criminals
  • Drug Abuse
  • Drug Trafficking
  • Ethnic Groups
  • Intelligence Community (United States)
  • Interagency Coordination
  • International Relations
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • Recreation
  • Social Welfare
  • Surveillance
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.