convergence

Foreword
Admiral James G. Stavridis, USN
I llicit networks affect everyone in our modern, globalized world. From human trafficking
in Eastern Europe to drug smuggling in East Asia, to the illicit arms trade in Africa, to
terrorist cells in East Asia and insurgents in the Caucasus, transnational illicit networks have
tentacles that reach everywhere. The trade in illegal narcotics is perhaps most worrisome, but
of growing concern is the illicit trafficking of counterfeit items, weapons, natural resources,
money, cultural property, and even people by shrewd, well-resourced, and nefarious adversaries.
I have experience combating these threats personally at the tactical, operational, and strategic
levels. As a young naval officer on a variety of ships, I spent a fair amount of time patrolling
the global commons where transnational criminals in the guise of pirates and drug smugglers
proliferate. I was in the Pentagon on 9/11 and personally experienced the global reach of modern
terrorism. Later on, when I commanded U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM),
one of my subordinate commands was Joint Interagency Task Force–South in Key West,
Florida, a multinational and interagency/interministerial command that counters drug trafficking
in the Western Hemisphere. I also experienced the pernicious effects that transnational
crime has on our friends as it ranges throughout the entire Western Hemisphere. After leaving
USSOUTHCOM to become commander at U.S. European Command (USEUCOM), I
saw that Europe was also challenged by the same types of transnational crime. In response, I
stood up the Joint/Interagency Counter Trafficking Center in Stuttgart, Germany, designed
to counter transnational criminal networks in cooperation with our international partners.
When I took command of USEUCOM, I also became the Supreme Allied Commander,
Europe (SACEUR). As SACEUR, I command Operation Active Endeavor, which counters
trafficking in the Mediterranean, and Operation Ocean Shield, which is part of the international
counterpiracy efforts off the Somali coast. In addition, we have pioneered responses to cyber
threats. At the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, we have the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization Computer Incident Response Center, and at USEUCOM, we are taking
steps to create a subunified cyber command that will have links to both U.S. Cyber Command
in the United States and USEUCOM in Germany.
All of these organizations were designed to facilitate a whole-of-government approach,
where all elements of national power work together in order to address emerging threats.
Eventually, once societies understand the nature of the threats facing them, they will hopefully
mobilize nongovernmental assets, adopting a “whole of society” approach. When all of these
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