Center for a New American Security

The close relationship between crime and terrorist activities is well-documented. Criminal ventures have long financed organized violence against nation states. As globalization facilitates the increased flow of people, capital, and information, we see a concomitant increase in these activities across the world. 

This project examines the nexus of terrorism, irregular warfare and crime, and has included work on the implications of drug cartels, crime and gangs in Mexico and South America for U.S. national security, counter-threat finance, and other types of irregular warfare. The project is led by COL Robert Killebrew, USA (Ret.).

CNAS research on transnational crime includes the 2010 report Crime Wars: Gangs, Cartels and U.S. National Security. In the report, authors COL Robert Killebrew, USA (Ret.) and Jennifer Bernal survey organized crime throughout the Western Hemisphere, analyze the challenges it poses for the region and recommend the United States replace the "war on drugs" paradigm with comprehensive domestic and foreign policies to confront the interrelated challenges of drug trafficking and violence ranging from the Andean Ridge to American streets.

In 2011, CNAS released the policy brief Security Through Partnership: Fighting Transnational Cartels in the Western Hemisphere,written by Killebrew and Matthew Irvine. According to the authors, increased regional cooperation – which has been a topic of President Obama’s Latin America tour – is needed to combat the growing violence and instability in the Western Hemisphere.

CNAS continues to research the growing crime-terror-insurgency nexus and the threat posed by transnational crime in the Western Hemisphere.