Afghanistan Watch: Illicit: Traffickers Diversify

October 20, 2006

Illicit: Traffickers Diversify

I was reading Moisés Naím's excellent book Illicit the other day, and came across this passage (which is continued after the break). Afghanistan is a case study in the processes he describes; the impact of institutional capture by opium traffickers and their allies is already evident, and their diversification (into real estate, for example) is well underway. Expect more of the same. All future attempts to reform Afghan politics, justice system, or economic development must account for the centrality of the illicit economy:

Left unchecked, illicit trade can only pursue its already well advanced mutation. There is ample evidence that it offers terrorists and other miscreants means of survival and methods of financial transfer and exchange. Its effect on geopolitics will go further. In developing countries and those in transition from communism, criminal networks often constitute the most powerful vested interests confronting the government. In some countries, their resources and capabilities even surpass those of their governments.

These capabilities often translate into political clout. Traffickers and their associates control political parties, own significant media operations, or are the major philanthropists behind nongovernmental organizations. This is a natural outcome in countries where no economic activity can match illicit trade in size or profits and therefore traffickers become the nation's "big business." And once their business becomes large and stable, trafficking networks do as big businesses are prone to do everywhere else: diversify into other businesses and invest in politics. After all, gaining access and influence and seeking government protection has always been part and parcel of big business.

Therefore not only are illicit networks tightly intertwined with licit private sector activities, but they are also deeply embedded within the public sector and the political system. And once they have spread into licit private corporations, political parties, parliaments, local governments, media groups, the courts, the military, and the nonprofit sector, trafficking networks assume a powerful--and in some countries unrivalled--influence on matters of state.

Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy
by Moises Naim