convergence

Wechsler and Barnabo
threat to national security.” 5 It directs the government to “build, balance, and integrate the tools
of American power to combat transnational organized crime and related threats to national
security—and to urge our foreign partners to do the same.” 6
The strategy is a call to action: it compels the U.S. Government, including DOD, to reframe
and refocus its efforts in combating TOC. Importantly, the strategy addresses organized
crime and drug trafficking as increasingly intertwined threats, laying the foundation for a broad
approach to global crime that rightfully retains a core focus on counternarcotics but widens
the aperture by recognizing the diversification of global criminal activity and its relationship
with other irregular threats.
Transnational criminal organizations are the essence of a networked threat. Not only are
criminal entities themselves networked, but they also rely on support networks—transportation,
financial, human capital, logistics, and communications—to enable their activities. It
follows that U.S. Government efforts to combat organized crime should emphasize counternetwork
approaches. Disrupting networks, particularly those associated with financial flows—
vital enablers of any criminal activity—through multifaceted targeting of key network nodes,
be they individuals, institutions, or even specific trafficking routes, can have a broad positive
impact on degrading criminal organizations. Employing these counternetwork approaches,
however, requires the government to assume the characteristics of a network, integrating the
capabilities of diverse interagency stakeholders and adjusting approaches as rapidly as the adversary
changes tactics. Only when our policy responses and actions in the field are as adaptive
as the threat will we see true progress against transnational organized crime.
DOD’s Supporting and Evolving Role
DOD supports law enforcement, other U.S. agencies, and foreign partners in combating
transnational organized crime. The U.S. Government and its partners address transnational
criminal threats primarily through law enforcement channels, capacity-building efforts, diplomacy
with key partner states, intelligence and analytical efforts, and the use of innovative policy
tools such as counterthreat finance capabilities. Because it is in a supporting role, DOD rarely
leads these efforts, but it offers unique capabilities and resources that strengthen overall U.S.
Government approaches against criminal networks. As the threat has morphed, however, there
have been important instances of law enforcement agencies supporting DOD operations. The
Afghanistan Threat Finance Cell, for example, is run by law enforcement entities and provides
direct support to military operations in Afghanistan. Support that cuts both ways—from
DOD to law enforcement and from law enforcement to the military—is a strategically important
evolution in how the U.S. Government organizes to combat TOC.
The Department of Defense can provide intelligence and equipment to support law
enforcement efforts against transnational criminal organizations. DOD’s focus, however,
has typically been on counternarcotics missions—historically in the Western Hemisphere
and over the past decade in Afghanistan and the surrounding region. As described above, the
nexus among criminals, terrorists, and insurgents is increasingly visible as our adversaries forge
hybrid organizational and operational models, suggesting that counterterrorism initiatives in
the future should incorporate a greater emphasis on combating the nexus with TOC.
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