Criminalized Power Structures

Criminalized power structures (CPS) are illicit networks that profit from transactions in black markets and from criminalized state institutions while perpetuating a culture of impunity. The book articulates a typology for assessing the threats of CPS and for implementing appropriate strategies to achieve sustainable peace effectively and efficiently. The international case studies address interventions undertaken either to support the implementation of a peace agreement (i. e. , a peace operation) or to stabilize a country entangled in an internal conflict in the context of a power-sharing agreement among key protagonists (i. e. , a stability operation). In each of these cases, at least one of the parties to the agreement was a criminalized power structure that was a leading spoiler. The final chapter identifies strategies that are most effective for each type of CPS, including the ways and means (or tools) required for effective conflict transformation.

A companion volume, Combating Criminalized Power Structures: A Toolkit, provides practitioners with the means of coping with the challenges posed by CPS.

Table of Contents
Part 1: Introduction
Chapter 1: Introduction, Michael Dziedzic
Part 2: Irreconcilables
Chapter 2: Bosnia: Third Entity Movement, Karmen Fields and Oscar Vera
Chapter 3: Guatemala: The Clandestine Security Apparatus, Carlos Castresana
Chapter 4: Sierra Leone: The Revolutionary United Front, Ismail Rashid
Chapter 5: Haiti: Gangs of Cité Soleil, David Beer
Part 3: Violent Opposition, Negotiable Interests
Chapter 6: Kosovo: The Kosovo Liberation Army, Michael Dziedzic, Laura Mercean, and Elton Skendaj
Chapter 7: DRC: March 23 Movement, Jana Nyerges
Chapter 8: Afghanistan: Criminal Patronage Networks, Carl Forsberg and Tim Sullivan
Chapter 9: Iraq: Jaish al-Mahdi, Phil Williams and Dan Bisbee
Part 4: Supporters of the Peace Process
Chapter 10: Colombia: Paramilitaries, Jennifer S. Holmes
Chapter 11: Iraq: Iraq: The Rise, Fall and Persistence of the Maliki Regime Dan Bisbee
Part 5: Conclusions, Toolkit, and Recommendations
Chapter 12: Conclusions, Michael Dziedzic
Chapter 13: An Overview of the International Toolkit for Subduing Criminalized Power Structures, Michael Dziedzic
Chapter 14: Recommendations, Michael Dziedzic