CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2018
| Author | Shaw, Daniel Odin |
|---|---|
| Title | Beyond Necessity: State-Sponsored Terrorism and Organized Crime |
| Summary | The world is experiencing a resurgence of state-sponsored terrorism, as exemplified by the conflict in Syria. Meanwhile, the crime-terror nexus is seen as a continued threat to global security and stability. However, there has been little academic attention paid to the use of organized crime by state-sponsored terror groups. This is largely because the current literature views the use of criminal fundraising as an alternative to state-sponsorship. Despite this, there are numerous examples of state-sponsored organizations which nevertheless engage in organized crime, representing a significant theoretical puzzle. This thesis addresses the question of why state-sponsored terror groups engage in organized crime by comparing the cases of Hezbollah and Mujahedin-e Khalq in light of the wider theoretical literature. Current literature on terrorism and crime tends to either focus on responses to economic necessity at the group level, or on the broader structure of opportunities and constraints. This thesis uses Theory-Guided Process-Tracing to incorporate these theories into the inductive case studies, finding that a theoretical synthesis is required to address this question. While responses to economic necessity occur, they are heavily mediated through the opportunity structures in which a group operates. This thesis also finds that the role of state-sponsors is more varied than previously acknowledged, with some states actively enabling crime. This shows the need for a theoretical approach which understands terror groups within their socio-economic and geopolitical context, while recognizing their complicated relationship with state actors. This thesis sketches out the beginnings of such a theory, suggesting several testable hypotheses. |
| Supervisor | Bogaards, Matthijs |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2018/shaw_daniel.pdf |
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