Posted on Mar 23, 2015
The U.S. Military and Undercurrents in Asia-Pacific Security
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Pentagon officials and military leaders are more comfortable focusing on traditional conflict scenarios. War is much easier to comprehend when your enemy is wearing a uniform and battle-lines are clearly defined. Transnational crime, food insecurity, and threats posed by communicable disease are increasingly defining the changing face of security. These challenges must be accounted for when U.S. military leaders in the Pacific think about the region.
The topic of narcotrafficking demonstrates how a non-traditional security issue can dramatically impact prospects for stability in the region. A 2013 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime highlighted that Southeast Asia produced an estimated 48 tons of heroin in 2011. The vast majority of this cultivation – roughly twice that of Afghanistan, which arguably receives much greater attention – has occurred in the fragile state of Myanmar. The UN report estimated that the revenue generated from this trade to be worth $16.3 billion during the same period. For perspective, an annual report from the International Institution for Strategic Studies estimated that Myanmar’s defense budget for fiscal year 2012 totaled just $2.23 billion. From 2002-2006, Myanmar demonstrated the ability to reduce poppy cultivation. Since then, however, increasing cultivation has been the trend. As Joshua Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations notes, armed groups are reaping considerable benefits from this increasing illicit trade.
Read the rest here:
http://thediplomat.com/2015/03/the-u-s-military-and-undercurrents-in-asia-pacific-security/
The topic of narcotrafficking demonstrates how a non-traditional security issue can dramatically impact prospects for stability in the region. A 2013 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime highlighted that Southeast Asia produced an estimated 48 tons of heroin in 2011. The vast majority of this cultivation – roughly twice that of Afghanistan, which arguably receives much greater attention – has occurred in the fragile state of Myanmar. The UN report estimated that the revenue generated from this trade to be worth $16.3 billion during the same period. For perspective, an annual report from the International Institution for Strategic Studies estimated that Myanmar’s defense budget for fiscal year 2012 totaled just $2.23 billion. From 2002-2006, Myanmar demonstrated the ability to reduce poppy cultivation. Since then, however, increasing cultivation has been the trend. As Joshua Kurlantzick of the Council on Foreign Relations notes, armed groups are reaping considerable benefits from this increasing illicit trade.
Read the rest here:
http://thediplomat.com/2015/03/the-u-s-military-and-undercurrents-in-asia-pacific-security/
Drugs
Security
North Korea
Posted >1 y ago
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I think we, as Americans, have a problem with this sort of unconventional threat, SSG Norman Lihou. For one, unless the problem affects us directly, we usually don't care. So, when it comes to hunger, drugs, deadly diseases, we Americans are not un-sympathetic. It's just that we don't exactly relate. And while senior leaders certainly understand those "threats," they are also almost certainly much more comfortable with traditional threats.
It kind of goes back to the supply vs. demand argument. Some argue that the suppliers (Afghanistan or Myanmar) are the "guilty party." Others claim that without demand the threat goes away. Who's right? That's up for debate, but I kind of come down on the side of the demand being the culprit. If the demand for drugs were not there, then all the supply in the world would not mean much. And this is not a question or a threat the U.S. military is used to dealing with.
It kind of goes back to the supply vs. demand argument. Some argue that the suppliers (Afghanistan or Myanmar) are the "guilty party." Others claim that without demand the threat goes away. Who's right? That's up for debate, but I kind of come down on the side of the demand being the culprit. If the demand for drugs were not there, then all the supply in the world would not mean much. And this is not a question or a threat the U.S. military is used to dealing with.
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SSG Norman Lihou
I would agree to a certain point CW5 Scott Montgomery as I think there is a change at the senior level at looking at these wicked problems. As you have each of GCCs and SecDef office addressing these issues in the publication:
The “New” Face of Transnational Crime Organizations (TCOs): A Geopolitical Perspective and Implications to U.S. National Security
Ackerman, Gary; Blair, David; Burns, Lauren; Butler, Glen; Cabayan, Hriar; Damron, Regan; Keefe, Joseph D.; King, Tracy; Hallstrom, David; Helfstein, Scott; Hulsey, Dave; Johns, Mila; Kurtz, James H.; Mabrey, Daniel J.; Markovic, Vesna; Nagata, Michael; Nieto-Gomez, Rodrigo; Novakoff, Renee; O’Brien, McKenzie; Pate, Amy; Peters, Gretchen; Ploszaj, Christopher S.; Scraba, Mark; Simpkins, William B.; Sitterle, Valerie B.; Trumpold, Todd; Ward, Richard H.; Wood, Tom; Zalesny, Mary; Isham, Chris
Significant transnational criminal organizations constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat…Criminal networks are not only expanding their operations, but they are also diversifying their activities, resulting in a convergence of transnational threats that has evolved to become more complex, volatile, and destabilizing.
You can download the publication here:
https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/30346
There also was a Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime published by the White House at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/nsc/transnational-crime
There is another interesting read called Convergence that talks about the problems of illicit networks and how they tie into national and partner security.
The “New” Face of Transnational Crime Organizations (TCOs): A Geopolitical Perspective and Implications to U.S. National Security
Ackerman, Gary; Blair, David; Burns, Lauren; Butler, Glen; Cabayan, Hriar; Damron, Regan; Keefe, Joseph D.; King, Tracy; Hallstrom, David; Helfstein, Scott; Hulsey, Dave; Johns, Mila; Kurtz, James H.; Mabrey, Daniel J.; Markovic, Vesna; Nagata, Michael; Nieto-Gomez, Rodrigo; Novakoff, Renee; O’Brien, McKenzie; Pate, Amy; Peters, Gretchen; Ploszaj, Christopher S.; Scraba, Mark; Simpkins, William B.; Sitterle, Valerie B.; Trumpold, Todd; Ward, Richard H.; Wood, Tom; Zalesny, Mary; Isham, Chris
Significant transnational criminal organizations constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat…Criminal networks are not only expanding their operations, but they are also diversifying their activities, resulting in a convergence of transnational threats that has evolved to become more complex, volatile, and destabilizing.
You can download the publication here:
https://calhoun.nps.edu/handle/10945/30346
There also was a Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime published by the White House at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/nsc/transnational-crime
There is another interesting read called Convergence that talks about the problems of illicit networks and how they tie into national and partner security.
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