About the Book

In the post-9/11 era, the nexus between organized crime and terrorism has raised much concern and has been widely discussed in both academic and policy circles, but is still largely misunderstood. This critical book contributes innovatively to the debate by distinguishing three types of nexus—interaction, transformation/imitation and similarities—and identifying the promoting factors of each type.

With its multifaceted but complementary chapters, the book provides conceptual and theoretical frameworks for readers, as well as the evidence needed to develop more realistic, effective and humane policies to tackle organized crime, terrorism and the nexuses between them. Bringing together a range of international multidisciplinary specialists, it includes three comparative analyses of worldwide transfers of personnel, weapons and money between organized crime and terrorism and 12 case studies examining local manifestations of the nexus in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Two other chapters further review the national, European and international policies adopted and implemented so far to deal with the different nexuses.

This book will be a valuable resource for researchers and policymakers in the fields of comparative law, criminal law and justice and public policy, who specialize in the analysis and control of organized crime and terrorism. It will also appeal to senior law enforcement officials and practitioners due to the counterintuitive policy implications drawn from the comparative analysis of the findings.

Table of Contents:
Contents: 1 Introduction to the nexus between organized crime and terrorism 1 Cyrille Fijnaut, Letizia Paoli and Jan Wouters PART I LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUALIZATION 2 Taking stock of the literature on the nexus between organized crime and terrorism 17 Letizia Paoli and Cyrille Fijnaut 3 Conceptualizing the nexus between organized crime and terrorism 48 Letizia Paoli and Cyrille Fijnaut PART II TRANSFER OF RESOURCES 4 Criminal pasts, terrorist futures? Jihadist recruits in Western Europe 86 Peter R. Neumann and Rajan Basra 5 Terrorists’ acquisition of firearms and explosives: criminal, legal and grey sources 104 Toine Spapens and Nils Duquet 6 The organized crime–terrorism nexus and its funding 126 Michael Levi PART III EUROPEAN CASE STUDIES 7 The nexus between organised crime and terrorism, and the attacks in Paris and Brussels in 2015 and 2016 148 Cyrille Fijnaut 8 Assessing the involvement in organized crime of jihadists from the Netherlands 221 Anton Weenink, Melvin R.J. Soudijn and Rudie J.M. Neve 9 Legal and law enforcement implications arising from the organized crime–terrorism nexus in Northern Ireland 239 Tom Obokata 10 To what extent was Basque terrorist group ETA involved in a nexus with organized crime? An economic analysis 258 Mikel Buesa and Thomas Baumert 11 Sweden: violent extremism and organized crime 276 Lars Korsell PART IV NON-EUROPEAN CASE STUDIES 12 The crime–terror nexus in Syria and Iraq 302 Christina Steenkamp 13 The nexus of organized crime and terror in Afghanistan and Pakistan 319 Matthew Phillips and Shelby Davis 14 Largely fleeting and hardly convergent: Libya’s crime– terror nexus 342 Mark Micallef and Matt Herbert 15 The terrorism–organized crime nexus in the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria 366 Freedom C. Onuoha 16 Is there any nexus between terrorism and organized crime in Mexico? 391 Luis Astorga 17 Terrorism and organized crime in Colombia 412 Gustavo Duncan, Santiago Sosa and Jose Antonio Fortou PART V INTERNATIONAL POLICIES 18 Responding to the crime–terror nexus: the international level 434 Christophe Paulussen and Colin P. Clarke 19 The nexus between organized crime and terrorism: policy responses from the European Union and the Council of Europe 452 Thomas Van Poecke and Jan Wouters Index