Toward Mapping Global Insecurity

Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs

Sovereignty, Order and Conflict presents

Margaret Hermann

Gerald B. and Daphna Cramer Professor of Global Affairs and Director of Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, Syracuse University

Heidi Stallman 

PhD Student, Syracuse University

Toward Mapping Global Insecurity: Rethinking Sovereignty and the Global Economy

Transnational criminal, insurgent, and terrorist organizations seek places that they can govern and operate from with minimum interference from law enforcement.  Like modern day versions of the pirate islands of the 17th and 18th centuries, these safe havens are sustained by illicit activities.  The Moynihan Institute’s Mapping Global Insecurity Project has completed in-depth case studies of 80 such geographic locations found across the globe, generating an initial map of the world as viewed through the eyes of those engaged in transnational criminal activities.  This presentation focuses on describing what we have learned to date regarding geopolitics and transnational crime and the flows of illegal commodities.  Our research suggests that those engaged in transnational crime take advantage of the tensions between state sovereignty and globalization, weak state authority, different interpretations of what is illegal, places where corruption is endemic, locations where there are multiple ways to exit the space and redundancies in the number and type of illegal commodities available, free trade zones, and Robin Hood’s curse.

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For more information or to request accessibility accommodations, please contact Ryan Griffiths (rgriff01@maxwell.syr.edu)