Digital Commons Network^™

Bukele’S Formula For Terrorism, Yovani E. Chavez Rodriguez

Journal of Strategic Security

The Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the Mara Barrio 18 (18thStreet Gang) are two of the most notorious Maras. Their army-sized membership and extraordinary levels of brutality once led them to commit more murders than the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Boko Haram, and Al Qaeda. Currently, their activities have expanded to the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Africa. While they are undoubtedly terrorist organizations, Bukele’s formula has proven effective in combating them. Nonetheless, Bukele’s government needs to implement measures to effectively counteract terrorism without affecting the rule of law, transparency, and the respect of human rights.

Urban Security: From High-Intensity Crime To Large-Scale Combat Operations And Everything In Between, John P. Sullivan, Ph.D., Nathan P. Jones, Ph.D., Daniel W. Argomedo, Ph.D.

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Why Cities Fail: The Urban Security Crisis In Ecuador, Jorge Mantilla, Carolina Andrade, Maria Fe Vallejo

Journal of Strategic Security

Compared to other countries in Latin America, Ecuador was traditionally considered a peaceful territory. However, 2022 was the most violent year in the history of Ecuador with a homicide rate of 25.6. In particular, the littoral city of Guayaquil (46.6) poses extraordinary challenges to Ecuadorian security agencies while criminal governance and firepower of criminal armed groups increased steadily in the past four years. This paper explores the relationship between ports, violence, and governance in the context of criminal wars. Through a process-tracing method, it studies the path through which Guayaquil ended up in a security crisis between 2018 and 2022. …

The Political Trajectory Of Urban Violence: Organized Crime In Michoacán’S Apatzingán, Fausto Carbajal

Journal of Strategic Security

Contrary to the “narco-centric” explanation of homicidal violence in Mexico, this article proposes “the political trajectory of urban violence” (PTUV) as an additional analytical category to nuance the developmental process of today´s large-scale violence in Mexican urban enclaves. Building on previous research, this article argues that organized crime-related violence in Mexican cities today has unveiled –and exacerbated– intricate power tensions among private actors –both illegal and, perhaps more importantly, legal ones– which need to be explored by considering the historical evolution of these political processes within a given urban context. The PTUV, then, regards recent organized crime-related violence as part …

Virtual Urban Siege: Modern Urban Siege And Swarming In Culiacán 2019 & 2023, Daniel Weisz Argomedo, Nathan P. Jones, Ph.D., John P. Sullivan, Ph.D.

Journal of Strategic Security

Modern urban siege is a metaphor for evolved urban campaigns. The template for such attacks draws from the tactics seen in the 26/11 Mumbai attack in 2008, and continued with the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Kenya, the January 2015 Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher attacks in Paris and the November 2015 attacks against the Stade de France and Bataclan. These virtual sieges employ swarming tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to provide a template for urban strife and insecurity. This article provides an overview of terrorist swarming tactics, expanding the aperture to review the use of similar TTPs by criminal …

Megacities And Urban Warfare In The 21st Century: The City As The Cemetery Of Revolutionaries And Resources, José De Arimatéia Da Cruz Ph.D./Mph

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

The Information Age: Transnational Organized Crime, Networks, And Illicit Markets, John P. Sullivan

Journal of Strategic Security

In his landmark trilogy, The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture, sociologist Manuel Castells argued that networks, information technology, and global economic flows were altering the nature of politics, power, and states. This article examines the network dynamics Castells wrote about in relation to transnational crime and illicit economic markets. The article further explores Castells’s influence on the study of transnational organized crime, illicit networks, and the global illicit economy.

Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine: Implications For The Central Region, Arman Mahmoudian, Tad Schnaufer Ii

GNSI Conference Reports

6th Great Power Competition Conference

December 8, 2022

University of South Florida

Armed Violence In The Llanos Orientales Region Following The Signing Of The Peace Agreement With The Farc-Ep In Colombia, David Gómez Triana, Jerónimo Ríos

Journal of Strategic Security

A fundamental aspect in the study of the Colombian armed conflict is related to the violence produced in the country after the signing of the Peace Agreement with the FARC-EP guerrillas in November 2016. To this end, we attempt to analyze the transformation of the relationship between the perpetrators of violence and their territory, taking as a case study a region particularly affected by the conflict, as is Llanos Orientales (known in English as the Eastern Plains). Starting with a preliminary characterization of the most relevant armed groups – post-paramilitary groups, FARC-EP dissidents and ELN guerrillas – we attempt to …

Drug Wars And Covert Netherworlds: The Transformation Of Mexico’S Narco Cartels. By James H. Creechan. Tucson: The University Of Arizona Press, 2021., Sabrina S. Laroussi

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Analysis Of The "Mexican Drug Violence: Hybrid Warfare, Predatory Capitalism And The Logic Of Cruelty" And "The Rise Of The Narcostate (Mafia States), Daniel Argomedo Weisz

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Votes, Drugs And Violence: The Political Logic Of Criminal Wars In Mexico. By Guillermo Trejo And Sandra Ley. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Isbn 978-1-108-79527-2., Howard Campbell

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

A Social Network Analysis Of Mexico’S Dark Network Alliance Structure, Nathan P. Jones, Irina A. Chindea, Daniel Weisz Argomedo, John P. Sullivan

Journal of Strategic Security

This article assesses Mexico’s organized crime alliance and subgroup network structures. Through social network analysis (SNA) of data from Lantia Consultores, a consulting firm in Mexico that specializes in the analysis of public policies, it demonstrates differential alliance structures within Mexico’s bipolar illicit network system. The Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación’s (CJNG) alliance structure is top-down and hierarchical, while the Sinaloa Cartel is denser, particularly in the broader Tierra Caliente region. Additionally, our analysis found a sparse overall network with many isolates (groups with no relations to other groups) and disconnected components. Further, we identified organized crime networks that …

Strategic Notes On Third Generation Gangs: A Small Wars Journal-El Centro Anthology. By John P. Sullivan, Robert J. Bunker, Editors. Bloomington: Xlibris, 2020. $26.99., Jonathan D. Rosen

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Decolonizing Human Trafficking: A Case Study Of Human Trafficking In Edo State Nigeria, Oyinkansola Adepitan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Every year, governments and globally acclaimed international organizations alike develop policies, sanctions and other control mechanisms in terms of prevention, protection and prosecution in an attempt to abate the current human trafficking problem which appears to be worsening by the year. This thesis will explore the relationship of colonial legacies to the current human trafficking dilemma, assessing the impact of post-colonial cultural and structural practices that continue to persist and proliferate the movement of human beings across borders and facilitates their sub-human treatment. By analyzing the underlying elements that have caused the current international system to operate and be structured …

Resistant Female Cyborgs In Brazil, M. Elizabeth Ginway

Alambique. Revista académica de ciencia ficción y fantasía / Jornal acadêmico de ficção científica e fantasía

In her oft-cited “A Cyborg Manifesto,” Donna Haraway conceptualizes the cyborg as a feminist possibility, emphasizing the need for a self-created, self-engendered female (150). In How We Became Posthuman (1999), N. Katherine Hayles examines the development of cybernetic theory from the 1940s to the present, linking its history to portrayals of cyborgs and artificial intelligence in science fiction. I argue that the combination of change and tradition embodied by Brazilian cyborgs must be understood within the history and paradigms of Latin American culture and its ambivalent attitudes towards modernity. To understand Brazil’s female cyborgs, I apply Bolívar Echeverría’s concept of …

Climate Change And Global Security, Nathan Jones, John P. Sullivan

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Climate Change, Drug Traffickers And La Sierra Tarahumara, Daniel Weisz Argomedo

Journal of Strategic Security

The purpose of this article is to uncover the ways in which climate change will impact indigenous people in contested areas as is the case of the Tarahumara indigenous community in Northern Mexico. The case study takes place on a border that John Sullivan conceptualizes as a “hyperborder” due to the complexity and high level of both licit and illicit trade. Sullivan explains how this border region has been heavily contested as criminals exploit weak governance. After 9/11 the increase of security at the border led drug trafficking organizations to diversify into internal drug distribution which required control over micro-territories. …

The Impact Of Climate Change On Cultural Security, Dominika Krupocin, Jesse Krupocin

Journal of Strategic Security

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges and most pressing issues faced by humanity in the modern era. Extreme weather events, changes to world ecosystems, species extinction, disruption of animal and human migration, resource shortages, socio-economic concerns, outbreaks and pandemics, as well as domestic and international conflicts represent only a few select potential climate change consequences. Regrettably, when considering the issues pertinent to climate change, one of the oft-overlooked areas is cultural security. Rising sea levels will lead to some of the world’s islands and coastal cities essentially being erased from Earth, resulting in the destruction, and possibly even …

Russian Influence In Latin America: A Response To Nato, Mason Shuya

Journal of Strategic Security

Since facing international backlash from the West over the situation in Ukraine, Russia has had to focus on new international agreements. In retaliation for NATO expansion towards the east, Russia has sought to create these agreements in Latin America. Russia has specifically sought greater ties with Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Brazil, and Mexico. Currently, these countries maintain close economic ties with the United States. However, new military agreements are giving Russia greater military access to the region and access to locations that would facilitate greater ease in conducting military and espionage operations against the United States.

Huachicoleros: Criminal Cartels, Fuel Theft, And Violence In Mexico, Nathan P. Jones, John P. Sullivan

Journal of Strategic Security

Criminal cartels and gangs dominate the illicit economy in Mexico. These organized crime groups challenge the solvency (specifically capacity and legitimacy) of the state in Mexico. Organized crime in Mexico is involved in a range of activities including extortion, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and petroleum theft. Criminal cartels, often called drug trafficking organizations, have diversified into other illicit activities specifically petroleum theft. This paper provides an overview of the rise of a specialized organized criminal entity: huachicoleros. Huachicoleros specialize in fuel theft and like their narco counterparts use corruption and violence to protect their illicit market. The rise of …

“You Could See Rage”: Visual Testimony In Post-Genocide Guatemala, Lacey M. Schauwecker

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Since the Guatemalan genocide against Maya populations (1981-1983), domestic and international human rights groups have organized truth commissions, forensic exhumations, and legal cases. These efforts to secure justice have achieved minimal success, prompting a reconsideration of the relationship among narrative testimony, visual testimony, and institutional standards of truth. Engaging the ideas of visual studies scholar, Nicholas Mirzoeff, I argue for the political importance of testimony that is critical of such standards, including those enforced by human rights’ legal paradigm. Following Mirzoeff’s understandings of “visuality” and “countervisuality,” I analyze “visual testimony” as that which acknowledges the dynamic interplay between word and …

El Mocito: A Study Of Cruelty At The Intersection Of Chile’S Military And Civil Society, Ana Laura Ros

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Twenty-five years after the end of the Chilean military dictatorship (1973-1990), the redemocratization process still has not drawn to a close. The persistent tensions in civil-military relations have sparked the concern of national and international human rights organizations and have even begun to occupy a space in the country’s cultural production. In this article, I will focus on El mocito (Marcela Said and Jacques de Certau, 2011). This film tackles Chile’s dictatorial past through the perspective of a civilian who was closely connected to the Armed Forces. It addresses the case of an individual living on the border between worlds …

The Summer Of '47, Gary R. Mormino

Sunland Tribune

No abstract provided.

Neutrality: A Tool Or A Limit For Preventing Mass Atrocitiy Crimes And Genocide? The Case Of Switzerland, Giulia Persoz

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The present article aims to confront the Swiss practice regarding the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities in Swiss foreign policy and its particularities shaping its international relations. Neutrality, a core part of Switzerland's identity on both the internal political level and the international level, will be at the center of our analysis. Indeed, how can a country engage in prevention activities while keeping its neutral status? How does neutrality influence these activities throughout times? What foreseeable impact could neutrality have on them? To answer these questions, the article will be divided as follow: the first part will be an …

Señoritas And Cigarmaking Women: Using ‘Latin’ Feminine Types To Rebrand And Market Ybor City, 1950-1962, Brad Massey, L. J. Russum

Sunland Tribune

“Pretty señoritas” and “tractable” cigarmaking women were two Latin female types created by marketers to promote Ybor City—historically known for industrial cigar production, Latin immigrants, and labor strife—as both a major tourist destination and continuing cigar manufacturing center after World War II. This article—through an examination of promotional materials, news accounts, and other archival sources— describes how Anthony Pizzo, Tampa mayor Curtis Hixon, and other area businesspersons and politicians used señoritas and female cigar workers to rebrand and market postwar Ybor City as a distinct and exotic hybrid space, which combined industrial production with tourist- centered consumption.

Routine Activities In A Virtual Space: A Taiwanese Case Of An Atm Hacking Spree., Ming-Li Hsieh, Shun-Yung Kevin Wang

USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications

Routine activity theory (RAT) was initially proposed to explain shifts in urban crime rates in the late 1970s, and has subsequently been applied to predictions of predatory criminal or victimization events. Despite a number of studies attempting to apply RAT to the vast array of crimes now taking place in a virtual environment such as phishing, fraud, malware infection, identify theft, computer viruses and cyber stalking on the Internet in Western countries, little is known about whether RAT could address automatic teller machine (ATM) hacking in an Asian setting. The current study applies RAT in order to examine a high-profile …

Hidden: A Case Study On Human Trafficking In Costa Rica, Timothy Adam Golob

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This is a case study on human trafficking that was conducted on the small Central American country of Costa Rica via a mixed-methods approach which included document review, surveys, and interviews. It was selected due to Costa Rica’s history of fluctuation between Tier 2 and Tier 2 Watch List status on the Trafficking in Persons Report, issued by the U.S. Department of State, over the last ten years. This ranking average indicates that it is one of the worst performing Central American states in efforts to combat trafficking in persons. This finding breaks with Costa Rica’s traditional placement as one …

Security Inequalities In North America: Reassessing Regional Security Complex Theory, Richard J. Kilroy Jr, Abelardo Rodriguez Sumano, Todd Hataley

Journal of Strategic Security

This article re-evaluates earlier work done by the authors on Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) in North America, using sectoral analysis initially developed by Buzan and Waever, but also adding the variables of institutions, identity, and interests. These variables are assessed qualitatively in the contemporary context on how they currently impress upon the process of securitization within sectoral relations between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The article reviews the movement from bilateral security relations between these states to the development of a trilateral response to regional security challenges post- 9/11. It further addresses the present period and what appears …

Drugs & Thugs: Funding Terrorism Through Narcotics Trafficking, Colin P. Clarke

Journal of Strategic Security

To date, much of the literature on the financing of terrorism and insurgency has focused at the macro-level on groups involved in financing their organizations through involvement in the drug trade. This paper discusses some of those implications, but argues that to better understand the threat faced by the new generation of jihadists in the West, security forces and intelligence services must also look at the micro-level of how lower level trafficking, drug dealing and petty criminal activity, combined with prison radicalization and ties to the black market and illicit underworld, combine to present a new spin on a longstanding …