Impunity: Countering Illicit Power in War and Transition - H.R. McMaster Foreword, Corruption in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Liberia, Pakistan, Colombia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Russia, Odessa Network

This excellent report has been professionally converted for accurate flowing-text e-book format reproduction. With a foreword by Lt. General H.R. McMaster, the newly appointed National Security Advisor, this unique work deals with the current need to confront illicit power in war and transition. Contents include: Chapter 1 * Criminal Patronage Networks and the Struggle to Rebuild the Afghan State * Chapter 2 * Jaish al-Mahdi in Iraq * Chapter 3 * Haiti: The Gangs of Cite Soleil * Chapter 4 * Liberia: Durable Illicit Power Structures * Chapter 5 * Traffickers and Truckers: Illicit Afghan and Pakistani Power Structures with a Shadowy but Influential Role * Chapter 6 * Colombia and the FARC: From Military Victory to Ambivalent Political Reintegration? * Chapter 7 * The Philippines: The Moro Islamic Liberation Front - A Pragmatic Power Structure? * Chapter 8 * Sierra Leone: The Revolutionary United Front * Chapter 9 * Sri Lanka: State Response to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam as an Illicit Power Structure * Part 2: Confronting Illicit Power - Understanding Enablers, Ours and Theirs * Chapter 10 * It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief: Illicit Power and the Intelligence Challenge * Chapter 11 * Weapons Trafficking and the Odessa Network: How One Small Think Tank was Able to Unpack One Very Big Problem, and the Lessons It Teaches Us * Chapter 12 * Financial Tools and Sanctions: Following the Money and the Joumaa Web * Chapter 13 * Recruitment and Radicalization: The Role of Social Media and New Technology * Part 3: Licit Transitions - Building Institutions and Strengthening Capacity for Success * Chapter 14 * Make It Matter: Ten Rules for Institutional Development that Works * Chapter 15 * The Hitchhiker's Guide to Intelligence-Led Policing * Chapter 16 * Security Sector Reconstruction in Post-Conflict: The Lessons from Timor-Leste * Chapter 17 * A Granular Approach to Combating Corruption and Illicit Power Structures.

Among the most insidious challenges to the contemporary state is the corrosive capture and use of illicit power, which both weakens the state and creates among populations the perception of inefficacy, incompetence, and, ultimately, illegitimacy. Part 1 of this book presents case studies of illicit power, and the domestic and international responses to it, in a range of states. These nine country case studies cumulatively alert analysts and practitioners to the gravity of the challenge posed by illicit power. Following these, the four chapters in Part 2 describe fundamental characteristics of illicit power structures, and the elements of the operational environment that enable illicit power to succeed, as well as those that enable the international community to counter it. The outcome of the struggle between illicit power and legitimate, accountable governance in any state hinges on the competition between them over these enablers. Part 3 gives four approaches to mitigating illicit power, which the international community must become adept at using and flexibly adapting to the specific conditions faced in particular environments. Part 4, the book's concluding section, offers insights that help clarify both the nature and the gravity of the challenge that is illicit power, as well as the most effective approaches to mitigating it.