The line between criminal and terrorist groups is often blurred, and Chechen groups are an excellent example of this new phenomenon. As the Soviet Union collapsed, groups began to fill the cracks offering services that the state could not. The Chechens were one group that outrivaled many groups, and they soon became synonymous throughout the Russian Federation with criminal. This work looks into the historical, social, and religious reasons behind the rise of militant Islam in the region. From there, it will discuss the historical difference between organized crime and terror, how the two have coalesced into the crime-terror nexus, and how the Chechens compare to two other groups that have gone through the same evolution: The Sicilian mafia, and the militant Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, or IMU. Though neither group are exactly the same, there are links that can help the reader understand the domestic and foreign problems that twenty-first century nation-states deal with throughout the world.

This report describes the current status of narcotics trafficking in four countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), in the three former Soviet republics of the south Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia), and in Chechnya. The purpose of the report is to reveal the role of Russian organized crime and Central Asian terrorist organizations in narcotics trafficking in those areas. To achieve this goal, the report describes the overall present structure of trafficking routes and organizations, insofar as these are known. A wide variety of sources has been used, focusing most heavily on current news accounts from the regions in question. The Table of Contents includes the following sections: Narcotics Trafficking in the Caucasus, including Conventional and Terrorist Trafficking in Georgia, and Trafficking in Armenia and Azerbaijan; Trafficking through Central Asia, including Background Information, Trafficking by Terrorist Groups (i.e., The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), Narcotics and the IMU, and Hizb-ut-Tahrir), and Trafficking by Crime Groups; The Role of Chechens in Narcotics Trafficking; Narcotics Markets in the Central Asian Republics; and Distribution Points and Routes in Russia.

This report, “Involvement of Russian Organized Crime Syndicates, Criminal Elements in the Russian Military, and Regional Terrorist Groups in Narcotics Trafficking in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Chechnya,” describes the current status of narcotics trafficking in four countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), in the three former Soviet republics of the south Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia), and in Chechnya. The purpose of the report is to reveal the role of Russian organized crime and Central Asian terrorist organizations in narcotics trafficking in those areas. To achieve this goal, the report describes the overall present structure of trafficking routes and organizations, insofar as these are known. A wide variety of sources has been used, focusing most heavily on current news accounts from the regions in question.

This book describes the current status of narcotics trafficking in four countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), in the three former Soviet republics of the south Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia), and in Chechnya. The purpose of the book is to reveal the role of Russian organized crime and Central Asian terrorist organizations in narcotics trafficking in those areas. To achieve this goal, the book describes the overall present structure of trafficking routes and organizations, insofar as these are known. A wide variety of sources has been used, focusing most heavily on current news accounts from the regions in question.

This report describes the current status of narcotics trafficking in four countries of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan), in the three former Soviet republics of the south Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia), and in Chechnya. The purpose of the report is to reveal the role of Russian organized crime and Central Asian terrorist organizations in narcotics trafficking in those areas. To achieve this goal, the report describes the overall present structure of trafficking routes and organizations, insofar as these are known. A wide variety of sources has been used, focusing most heavily on current news accounts from the regions in question.

The purpose of The New Era in U.S. National Security: Challenges of the Information Age is to make its readers aware of how the tensions between opposing forces from above and below influence world events and shape U.S. national security institutions. The debt trap now being experienced by the developing world has unleashed global migration on a mass scale. In a world where market forces are politically unaccountable, crime will prosper, and its linkage to organizing social structures is organic. The nexus between corrupt politicians, transnational business, and cross-border crime pulls tighter. Meanwhile, the structures of global governance are immature. Differences of agreement over international norms and controls regarding the use of the Internet, and the laws pertaining to the deployment of cyber weapons are illusive - if not insurmountable. The chasm between the rich and poor is widening and deepening. Hostilities continue mount. In this book, Jack A. Jarmon offers a survey of the altering landscape of warfare and competition. Using recent events and documented experiences as examples, it reveals truths about the threat from criminals, terrorists, hostile governments, and internal vulnerabilities. The nation’s exposure invites attack with every hour. Rather than an abstract threat, these unseen and unreported assaults land blows to our information networks, infrastructure, quality of life, and democratic system.

The events of September 11, 2001 confronted the United States and the rest of the World with the reality of a new dimension of international terrorism. This new dimension did not start nor end with the attacks against the World Trade Center or the Pentagon, but began in the 1990s. This study examines the new dimension of international terrorism, contrasting it with the classical terrorism, the predominantly left-wing terrorist movements of the 1960s - 1980s in Europe, which were a subset of the bipolar geo-political arena. The author establishes the relationship of radical Islamist movements to the terrorist groups of the new dimension (principally focusing on Al-Qaeda) in providing the motivation for committing catastrophic terrorist acts, looks at the shadowy world of terrorist financing and makes suggestions regarding international counter-terrorist strategies.