convergence

The Criminal State
Fighting these illicit networks is no longer about drugs, counterfeits, weapons, terrorists,
or insurgents. It is about defending the integrity of the system of viable sovereign states and the
fundamental structure of global order. The challenge is preventing and reversing the criminalization
of states and governments. In meeting the emerging challenges of the 21 st century, we
cannot be everywhere, do everything, prevent every wrong, and protect every right. There is
absolutely no hope in fighting everything, from the counterfeiting of Harry Potter books and
Prada bags, to trafficking of humans, narcotics, and every other kind of contraband, and to
countering terrorism, insurgency, and the many other destructive activities of illicit networks
around the world. We must be selective. Concentrating on preserving the legitimacy and sovereignty
of governments and of the rule-based structure of global order must be the priority.
Many states have already suffered criminal infestation and are well on their way to criminal
state capture or even criminal sovereignty. These are the same governments on which the
United States and other countries must depend as partners in the struggle against international
terrorism, transnational organized crime, and other emerging international security challenges.
These often-feeble states must deal with the international financial system and its regulatory
system. They will have to deal with fighting poverty and with developing alliances to deal with
the long litany of problems that are no longer amenable to solutions by any country acting
alone. The need for global collaboration has never been greater, nor has the risk to our potential
partners as they lose ground in the struggle to maintain sovereignty free of criminalization.
Notes
1 Moisés Naím, “Mafia States: Organized Crime Takes Office,” Foreign Affairs 91, no. 3 (May/June 2012); see
also, Moisés Naím, Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats Are Hijacking the Global Economy (New York:
Doubleday, 2006).
2 Cesare Lombroso (1835–1909) was an Italian criminologist who founded the “Italian positivist school of
criminology.” His key argument was that criminal nature is inherited and represents a regression from normal
human development.
3 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), “2011 World Drug Report” (New York: UNODC), 22.
4 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), The Economic Impact of Counterfeiting
and Piracy 2008 (Paris: OECD), available at .
5 Rachel Locke, Organized Crime, Conflict and Fragility: A New Approach (New York: International Peace
Institute, July 2012).
6 Michael Hanlon, “The Cooption of Revolutionary Movements into Criminal States,” January 25, 2009, available
at .
7 James Cockayne and Adam Lupel, “Introduction: Rethinking the Relationship Between Peace Operations and
Organized Crime,” International Peacekeeping 16, no. 1 (February 2009), 4–19.
8 Jean-François Bayart, Stephen Ellis, and Béatrice Hibou, The Criminalization of the State in Africa (Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1999).
9 Ibid.
10 Robert J. Bunker and Pamela L. Bunker, “Defining Criminal States,” Global Crime 7, nos. 3–4 (August–November,
2006).
11 Ibid.
12 Naím, “Mafia States.”
13 Fund for Peace, “Failed States Index 2012,” available at .
14 South Africa has maintained a Freedom House rating of at least 2/2 since 1994–1995. See Freedom House
Web site, available at .
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