Information Reports

One of the most persistent threats facing the world in the 21st century is the rise of human trafficking as a major form of criminal exploitation. Not only is this issue found worldwide, it is also a growing problem in the Middle East, especially as it combines with the impact of conflict and the rising refugee streams trying to reach Europe.

Muslim and Hindu conflicts have spanned the course of India since its independence. The conflicts have historically flared in parallel with increased tensions between Pakistan and India. Presently, Hindu/Muslim relations are the worst that they have been in decades. The current tensions are related strongly to increased Indo/Pakistani conflicts, particularly centering around the Jammu/Kashmir region, and anti-Muslim rhetoric from leading political parties and leaders, especially surrounding Muslim refugees pouring into India.

After the death of Muhammar Ghaddafi and the subsequent end of the Libyan Jamahiriya, Libya’s transitional government has since crumbled into a multifaceted conflict with different political groups vying for power and influence over potent oil fields. The General National Congress (GNC) took control over Libya after the death of Ghaddafi as a representative assembly. Internal fragmentation in the GNC precluded agreements on political issues and was unable to withstand several other warring factions. Several former political officials fled Tripoli (and the GNC) to Tobruk, a city on the eastern border of Libya, and established a second parliament known as the House of Representatives. The Libyan National Army (LNA), headed by Khalifa Haftar, is recognized as a quasi-military unit, comprised of trained military officials alongside tribal and regional groups of soldiers. The LNA is not recognized by the GNC as a military force; instead, the GNC recognizes Haftar as an agitator and a “warlord”. In addition to the two existing governments and the LNA, Islamic fundamentalist groups loyal to ISIS and the Muslim Brotherhood exist throughout the state and commit various terrorist acts and beheadings.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan to stabilize Syria’s Idlib province against Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham’s (HTS) growing aggression and territorial expansion struggles to be implemented (Russia: Deal 2019; Russia, Turkey 2019). Turkey and Russia planned for a de-escalation zone in Syria’s Idlib, where aggression is prohibited, so Syrian displaced peoples are allowed to return home. However HTS filled the power vacuum in the absence of state aggression. HTS now attempts to penetrate Aleppo from the Idlib province, which threatens the demilitarization deal between Turkey and Russia (Karaspan 2018).

Syrian Islamist terrorist group Hay’et Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) continues to push its territorial expansion campaign from the Idlib province into Aleppo and the surrounding area controlled by the Turkish-backed National Liberation Front (NLF). Increasing aggression from HTS warns of more conflict not only for civilians and Turkey, but also challenges the Idlibdemilitarization deal between Turkey, Iran, the Syrian government, and Russia.

This week, a member of the notorious Central American gang MS-13 was apprehended trying to cross the border into the US with the migrant caravan. This has sparked a resurgence of the dialogue about the presence and danger MS-13 poses to the United States. One of the key points crucial to understanding MS-13 is that it is not an organized group as the mob or drug cartels are. MS-13 has become more of a methodology or ideology for gang members. There is no evidence of any sort of hierarchy within the gang. Where the gang exists, the hierarchy is very localized and most violence is committed against other gang members, defectors, and any others who openly oppose them or resist joining them.

The FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) traces its roots back to the 1950’s era struggle called “La Violencia.”[i] These battles were between conservative and communist factions within the country. Small communist groups banded together and adopted the FARC name in 1966. Funded largely by drug enterprises the group grew in strength and numbers throughout the 1970s.[ii] The heavy hand of FARC administration facilitated rival gangs’ establishment and led in large part to the world’s assessment of the group as a drug cartel. At its peak some 18,000 members affiliated themselves with the FARC.[iii] The group therefore wielded a hefty military power. Politically, despite multiple attempts by the government to reach peace and integrate the FARC into mainstream politics, leadership and members alike breached deals in 1984 and 1990 subverting standard political responses.[iv] The conflict continued. Due to a demilitarized zone, part of the 1990s peace process, the FARC were ceded a piece of the country roughly the size of Switzerland, and instead of looking for peaceful administration and joining talks for integration with the government, the rebels took advantage increasing the drug trade and their influence dramatically.[v] Kidnappings, drug trade, extortion, and murder were common plays by the group that seemed to hoist communism as a justification for a cartel rather than a true philosophical battle. In 2000 the United States government funded a major counternarcotic program focused on Colombia. The deal, Plan Colombia, was a behemoth operation with over a half billion-dollar annual budget. The goals were clear: reduce drug production by 50% in six years and create institutions and regain government control of all territory in Colombia.[vi] These goals were somewhat achieved as coca production decreased substantially in the first years of the plan’s operation, though the FARC remained in control of significant portions of the country.[vii] The plan, some contend, was particularly successful in developing Colombian institutions and stabilizing the government. In part due to the billions of dollars invested, Colombia is now one of the United States’ strongest partners in the region with a stable and democratic government.[viii] Overall, the FARC lost influence. The conflict overall cost some 200,000 lives and the displacement of some 7 million inhabitants.[ix] The FARC is still listed as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” by the U.S. State Department.[x] A peace deal negotiated by President Juan Manuel Santos and FARC leaders in Cuba provides protections for FARC leaders and fighters alike and protects FARC participation in congress.[xi] Since integration, it appears the insurgent leaders lack a real policymaking agenda. The battle of identity and reason behind the FARC is fought both in academia and the Colombian jungle. Communist in history and in manifesto, the FARC is now having to prove itself as a legitimate philosophical revolution or suffer the judgement of history as the stain on society only a drug cartel can be.

Economy

MS-13 is one of the largest and most dangerous organized crime syndicates in the