convergence

How Illicit Networks Impact Sovereignty
These factors are evident in three crucial spatial settings: networked diasporas, border
zones, and criminal enclaves (themselves often the result of the first two).
Networked Diasporas
Terrorists, organized criminal enterprises, and transnational gangs increasingly operate across
borders as global nonstate actors. This transnational dimension of crime and extremism makes
coordination of foreign and domestic intelligence and law enforcement operations essential.
Frequently, transnational criminal and terrorist actors find sanctuary in overseas diaspora
communities. While this is not new (the Mafia or Costa Nostra in the United States is a classic
case of Sicilian immigrants banding together and forming the nucleus of criminal gangs and
enterprises), Russian mafiya gangs, Chinese triads, and now Mexican cartels and others operate
globally. The information age allows these groups to coordinate and synchronize operations
and make alliances in new ways. This includes the use of new media to transmit messages;
announce alliances, attacks, and operations (including beheadings and corpse messaging or
the use of symbolic brutality); broadcast threats and challenges; solicit recruits and alternative
identity narratives (i.e., narcocultura); and transmit operational directives across multiple areas
of operations in real or chosen time.
Networked diasporas are one consequence of the information age and require attention.
Diaspora communities can provide extremists with a permissive environment favoring the
emergence of extremist cells. Radical enclaves may arise within diaspora communities and
serve as catalysts for broader radicalization. When linked to lawless zones and other radical
enclaves through social networks and Internet media, a powerful “networked diaspora” results. 45
Border Zones
Border zones are frequently areas where dark side actors and criminal netwarriors can gain a
foothold. As such, they serve as incubators of conflict. Criminal gangs, insurgents, and terrorists
exploit weak state presence to forge a parallel state and pursue their criminal enterprises.
Their efforts are frequently sustained by fear, violence, and brutality. 46 For example, in Mexico,
the northern frontier with the United States and southern border with Guatemala are contested
zones. These zones have become the center of gravity for Mexico’s drug cartels. These
drug-smuggling corridors and plazas translink the borders. The bloody competition over these
plazas and the spread of criminal reach and power throughout the state and across frontiers
are significant security concerns.
Border zones in Latin America, for example, are at risk of territorial capture by armed
groups and narcotrafficking networks. As Ivan Briscoe observed, government authority in
these zones has been “hollowed out” and replaced by evolving global-local networks of criminal
authority. 47 As noted by Sullivan and Elkus:
Border zones, such as Guatemala’s Petén province, and sparsely policed areas like the
Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua are incubators of instability and ideal venues for refueling,
repackaging product, and warehousing drug stockpiles. While this was first realized in
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