Synopsis
U.S. military leaders, planners, and decision makers face a new security environment in the 21st century, characterized by its complex networked nature, which has emerged as a result of globalization accompanied by the ever increasing speed of technological advancements. This in turn has created a new set of security dynamics that is increasingly spawning a varietyof asymmetric threats, changing the very natureof conflict. The result is a complex and untidy security environment, where even attempting to define the nature of the threat has become difficult. Historically, adversaries were well-defined, allowing a relatively clear course of action to be chosen against them. This is no longer the case, as nonstate actors forming a global network of terrorist organizations, associated criminal groups, corrupt governments, and indifferent or uninformed individuals or corporations, increasingly take center stage. The state now faces an enemy whose asymmetry is such that concepts such as “civilian” and “military” or even “legality” have become obsolete.The consequence is that the traditional approach ofattempting to find a solution for a particular security problem has become ineffective. In fact, it is no longer appropriate to look for a single solution as such. In the new networked world, most problems are multidimensional in nature making them difficult or impossible to solve due to their incomplete, contradictory, and constantly evolving nature. These are generally referred to as “wicked” problems, characterized by their complex interdependencies where action takento address one aspect of the problem may reveal or create additional problems.This must be avoided at all costs. This book therefore provides recommendations for addressing a specific area where the capability of the United States and allied militaries can be augmented for the purpose of targeted action against adversaries: that of threat finance, and effective counter threat finance strategies.
About the Author
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
SHIMA D. KEENE is a Director of the Conflict Studies Research Centre, Oxford as well as Director of the Security Economics Programme at the Institute for Statecraft, London, United Kingdom (UK). She is also a Deployable Civilian Expert (DCE) and a member of the UK government’s Civilian Stabilisation Group (CSG) specializing in Intelligence and Security Sector Reform which sits under the Security and Justice Function ofthe CSG. She is a former Senior Research Fellow and Advisor at the Advanced Research and Assessment Group, UK Defence Academy, and Special Advisor to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), where she had responsibility for assessment and recommendations for the development of financial counterinsurgency (COIN) strategies in Afghanistan. Dr. Keene advises and works closely with a number of British and international organizations on topics relating to national and international security including the MoD, various UK government departments and law enforcement agencies, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, Global Futures Forum, the NorthAtlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), U.S. government departments and law enforcement agencies and various global private sector organizations. Dr. Keene has 25 years of practitioner experience in a number of industries including finance, defense, security, and telecommunications in both the public and private sectors, working with government departments, law enforcement, telecommunications and finance. She is also a former British Army reservist with 7 years military service, most of which was spent with 4th Battalion, the Parachute Regiment. Dr. Keene has published numerous internal and external MoD and NATO reports as well as award winning academic journal articles, and is the author of Threat Finance: Disconnectingthe Lifeline of Organized Crime and Terrorism (Aldershot UK: Ashgate, 2012). Dr. Keene graduated with honors from the University of Buckingham in Business Studies; and holds an MPhil in Defence and Security Studies from Cranfield University, Defence College of Management and Technology (formerly Royal Military College of Science), Defence Academy of the United Kingdom; and a Ph.D. in international criminal law from the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London.
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