Phil Williams

National security policymakers are continuously challenged to ensure that the judgments and assumptions underlying policy, force posture, and provision are congruent with the international environment and the role the United States is playing within it. This has become problematic in the 21st century security environment characterized by complexity, connectivity, and rapid change. This analysis offers key insights into what is a shifting security environment and considers how the United States can best respond to it. Dr. Phil Williams argues that we have passed the zenith of the Westphalian state, which is now in long-term decline, and are already in what several observers have termed the New Middle Ages, characterized by disorder but not chaos. Dr. Williams suggests that both the relative and absolute decline in state power will not only continue but will accelerate, taking us into a New Dark Age where the forces of chaos could prove overwhelming.

Dr. Williams looks in detail at major criminal activities, including the theft, diversion, and smuggling of oil, the kidnapping of both Iraqis and foreigners, extortion, car theft, and the theft and smuggling of antiquities. He also considers the critical role played by corruption in facilitating and strengthening organized crime and shows how al-Qaeda in Iraq, Jaish-al-Mahdi, and the Sunni tribes used criminal activities to fund their campaigns of political violence. Dr. Williams identifies the roots of organized crime in post-Ba'athist Iraq in an authoritarian and corrupt state dominated by Saddam Hussein and subject to international sanctions. He also explains the rise of organized crime after the U. S. invasion in terms of two distinct waves: the first wave followed the collapse of the state and was accompanied by the breakdown of social control mechanisms and the development of anomie; the second wave was driven by anarchy, insecurity, political ambition, and the imperatives of resource generation...

The problem with being a drifter is where it might take you... Clouds conceal the nation of Estalia, where a lone boatman makes his way across its freezing landscape. Marquos drifts through the dystopian empire without meaning, searching for hope of a better future as he scavenges to survive. In the Deadland of the North, they say the sky is clear, and the stars shine: Marquos dreams of seeing it, believing that there is something more to this world. With rebels plaguing the canals, hunted by the authoritarian Border Guard, and the guards of the Metropolis pursuing Marquos for his attempts to liberate a child, the route north is wrought with peril. As the militant rulers and the ragged bands of resistance fighters vie for the boatman's support, Marquos is drawn into a war many don't realise exists. His journey takes him beyond the inhospitable North, past the darkest truths of his people and their history - onward into an increasingly chaotic fight for survival.

Over the past two years, the Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) and the University of Pittsburgh Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies (Center for Latin American Studies and Office of the Provost) have conducted two conferences: The first was entitled "Drug Trafficking, Violence, and Instability in Mexico, Colombia, and the Caribbean: Implications for U. S. National Security," and the second was "Violent Armed Groups: A Global Challenge." Keynote speakers for the first conference were: Bruce Bagley, Professor and Chair, Department of International Studies, University of Miami and Director, University of Miami's Center of Latin American Studies, who addressed "What Can the Mexican State Do to Combat Organized Crime?"; and Jorge Chabat, Professor/Investigator, Centro de Investigaci n y Docencia Econ micas (Center for Research and Teaching in Economics), who discussed "The Drug War in Mexico: Dilemmas and Options." Speakers for the second conference included Dr. Robert Mandel, Professor of International Affairs at Lewis & Clark College, and John Robb, author of the book Brave New War. Dr. Mandel addressed "Global Security Upheaval: Armed Non-State Groups as Stability Enhancers," and Mr. Robb addressed "The Bazaar of Violence." The conference sponsors found the presentations at the two conferences to be sufficiently complementary to combine them in a series of monographs under the main title of Violent Armed Groups. Specific monographs within the series will have subtitles encompassing groups of works selected from among the presentations by the four keynote speakers and over 40 panelists. The introduction to this first monograph, "Drug Trafficking, Violence, and Instability," will serve to: (1) introduce the series by providing general conceptions of the global security challenges posed by violent armed groups; (2) identify the issues of greatest import to scholars studying the phenomenon; and, (3) emphasize the need for the U. S. Government to understand variations in the challenges it faces from a wide range of potential enemies. In this first report, Dr. Phil Williams and Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown provide the strategic context for the series and highlight many of the issues that will be addressed in more detail by authors of subsequent monographs in the series. SSI is pleased to offer this report in fulfillment of its mission to assist U. S. Army and Department of Defense senior leaders and strategic thinkers in understanding the key issues of the day.

Birdmen is a story about our wars. More specifically, it is the story of two young men caught in the middle of the conflict in Iraq, and their attempts to carve out meaning and purpose in the midst of a war they do not fully understand. As an old veteran in the book says, "Something inside all of us dies in a war. Hope... innocence... maybe just na vet " In a sense, we are all struggling in some form or other for a victory that seems to constantly elude us. Suddenly we find ourselves fighting a battle that may provide no real sense of absolution in the end. War is truly ugly. Truth becomes abstracted. Redemption reveals itself as an often unpleasant and complicated process. Soldiers come home from a war expecting to be free and clear of the thing, only too often to find they are still carrying it around inside them. For thosewho live through it, the war is never really over, and there may be no such thing as a happy ending.

First Published in 1997. During the 1990s transnational criminal organizations of all kinds have received increased scrutiny from law enforcement agencies, intelligence analysts, and academic researchers. While there are many differences of both interpretation and assessment regarding a whole range of issues, divisions are particularly acute in the area of Russian organized crime. This title gives a brief history of Russian Organized Crime before exploring recent trends, major mafia gangs and their relationship overseas.

This volume consists of major books written in the English language on NATO as well as an extensive listing of journal articles that deal with various aspects of the Alliance. All the major debates that have taken place over the last forty years are discussed.

First Published in 1997. During the 1990s transnational criminal organizations of all kinds have received increased scrutiny from law enforcement agencies, intelligence analysts, and academic researchers. While there are many differences of both interpretation and assessment regarding a whole range of issues, divisions are particularly acute in the area of Russian organized crime. This title gives a brief history of Russian Organized Crime before exploring recent trends, major mafia gangs and their relationship overseas.