The Networks We Don't See

Moises Naim's book "Illicit" is an eye-opener. A spine-chilling eye-opener. The book surveys the depth to which criminal networks have become embedded in our society. Just as globalisation has opened up the world to all sorts of legal cross-border flows, so too has it opened it up to illegal flows of drugs, arms, sex slaves, you name it.

And these are flows do not originate from the hierarchical mafioso a la "The Godfather". Rather as technology has involved, so too has the organisation of the criminal underworld. Yes, there are still very powerful groups and individuals but they are now organised in a networked way, making them that much harder to detect and crack down on.

Another evolution in the world of crime has been the specialisation in function, rather than a specific type of illicit trade. Drugs, arms, people trafficking are no longer distinct strands; instead they have run together where the same set of traffickers could be smuggling all manner of goods across borders. One of the main reasons why some degree of cognisance has been taken of how out of control contraband trade is the link between terrorists and criminals.

One of the areas most replete with grey areas is that of high-finance. As cross-border flows of contraband have grown, so too has the amount of money that needs laundering. While front businesses may still be part of the process, elaborate layers of financial products are also used making it that much easier to get money clean.

An expected boon may come in the form of the current financial crisis as one of the major groups of beneficiaries of financial deregulation have been the criminals. Certainly, as the book points out government aided and abetted as they sometimes are by civil society groups and big business are woefully losing the battle. Naim points to two reasons for this. First, the structure of law enforcement has not evolved in the dynamic way criminal networks have. Second, too much effort has been placed on the supply-side rather than the demand-side of efforts to curb illicit trade.

And this brings us to the crux of the matter. As Naim points out, it is not the glee of doing something morally questionable that motivates criminals, but profit. And as long as there is demand for the product and gains to be made from getting goods from where they're cheap to where they command a high price, efforts to squash the trafficking of illegal goods will prove ineffectual.

Naim's book combines the easy-to-read style and anecdotal evidence of a journalist to a well-thought through academic argument. He explores the structure of criminal networks and the agencies that work against them, analyses the motivators for illegal trade and how these point to improved strategies for combating it, and also looks at how various political theories may blind policy-makers to the extent of the problem. His book certainly is a wake-up call worth paying attention to.