| The basic objectives of this study are to better understand the dynamics of post-conflict drug trade and the participation of Islamic insurgents and their external support apparatuses in narcotics trafficking and related criminal activity, and to move beyond conventional understandings of war economies and drug smuggling, that is, those that attribute changes in trafficking patterns and trends simply to the massive destruction of infrastructure, lack of legitimate economic opportunities, and weak or non-existent political and judicial authority. With a qualitative comparative analysis of post-conflict drug trade and criminal support structures of narco-insurgencies in Central Asia and the Caucasus, particularly the Taliban, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and the Chechen separatists, this dissertation explains post-conflict drug trade in terms of economic motivations and opportunities that are specifically related to the intensification of international crime and the ethno-religious dimension of an Islamic insurgent organization's transnational criminal support structure. The analysis leads to the conclusion that ethno-religiously patterned conflicts are leading to ethno-religiously based criminality in post-war situations, with the suggestion that criminal networks created during the chaos of war are encouraging failed states, providing a steady source of money and materials to other insurgent or terrorist organizations, creating opportunities for the resurgence of Islamic resistance movements, and expanding human smuggling capabilities for terrorists aiming to strike targets abroad. This dissertation then analyzes hidden security threats resulting from Hezbollah's criminal support structure that stretches from the Middle East to the Western Hemisphere. |
