By Christine June, George C. Marshall European Center for
Security Studies
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany -- Transnational criminal
organizations have benefitted from globalization, said the deputy assistant
secretary of defense for Counternarcotics and Global Threats in the Office of
the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity
Conflict.
Thomas Alexander spoke to 88 participants from 54 countries
as the keynote speaker for the Program on Countering Transnational Organized
Crime at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies Aug. 24.
The Marshall Center is a German-American international security and defense
studies institute based here.
National Security Concerns
“Overlapping networks enable transnational criminal
organizations to move illicit shipments quickly throughout the world,”
Alexander said. “They also face little risk of detection, due to the sheer
volume of global trade coming into container ports or the emerging trend of
trafficking drug precursor chemicals directly to customers via the internet and
global mail.”
Held twice a year, the CTOC course emphasizes how
transnational organized crime threatens nations’ national security. Lectures
and case studies examine the major methods by which transnational criminal
organizations engage in illegal activities. Seminar activities focus on methods
to combat this threat through the development of CTOC strategies, and
whole-of-government and inter-regional solutions.
Professor Joe Vann, CTOC program director, said he and his
staff focus on teaching course participants how to develop strategies to combat
the activities of drug cartels, terrorists and transnational criminal
organizations.
“We try to give our participants executive development
skills so that when they go home they will be able to adapt and modify these
skills and improve their ability to make a difference in their countries,” Vann
said “We want them to become senior decision makers who can help develop and
direct countering transnational organized crime strategies in their countries.”
He added, “We teach them to think critically in order to
assess complex problems. These skills are required in order to develop
solutions and strategies to disrupt the activities of transnational criminal
organizations.”
Course Participants
Course participants included military and civilian
government officials and practitioners who are engaged in policy development,
law enforcement, intelligence and interdiction activities aimed at countering
illicit narcotics trafficking, terrorist involvement in criminal activity and
the associated elements of transnational crime and corruption.
“The Marshall Center does a fabulous job pulling the right
officials from the right countries and have them strategize together because
that’s ultimately what they are going to have to do when they go back home,”
Alexander said.
In 2014, the Marshall Center was designated by the
Department of Defense as a center of excellence for transnational security
studies due to its countering transnational organized crime program, as well as
its programs on countering terrorism and cyber threats.
Developing Strategies
“In my country, I am a member of the group that is writing
how to combat money laundering and finance terrorism as part of our national
strategy,” said Madina Adam Sere, financial analyst with the Ministry of
Finance in the Ivory Coast.
She added that they have one year to write this portion of
the country’s national strategy. In two years, that strategy will be due for
evaluation, she added.
“That’s why it was important that I participated in this
course because now I have more knowledge on how to write this strategy and to
consider more aspects of countering money laundering and finance terrorism than
I had considered before,” Sere said. “This is because the lectures covered many
aspects of transnational organized crime, and I was able to ask direct
questions from experts in the field.”
Sere and her fellow course participants heard from faculty
and invited subject matter experts who are experienced in different areas of
combating transnational organized crime such as narcotics trafficking, human
smuggling, weapons trafficking, cybercrime and money laundering.
Sharing Information
“I also have a lot of contacts outside of my country that I
didn’t have before attending this course,” Sere said. “Now, I have people from
more than 50 countries that I can ask if I need more information while I am
helping to write this part of our national strategy.”
The Marshall Center’s alumni network consists of more than
13,000 security professionals from 154 nations. Sere said she feels comfortable
contacting those in this network because of the Marshall Center connection.
“I am becoming more and more convinced that nowhere in the
world will you have an opportunity to sit in a group of 80 to 90 people from
around the world with this level of experience, and be able to share
information and learn from each other,” Vann said to the participants at the
beginning of the course.
Valuable Connections
“What you learn here will be very important for when you go
home, but also the connections you make here will be equally important,” Vann
continued. “We see that every day when someone reaches back to a participant
they had opportunity to be in class with and actually solve investigations or
problems.”
He added, “Don’t lose sight of that. Please appreciate it.
Don’t take for granted the magic that really happens here.”
During the last week of the program, participants
strategized together in their seminars to develop a CTOC strategy and present
it to the plenary right before graduation. Alexander was able to review these
presentations and ask questions.
In his address, Alexander listed the two key parts of
strategizing as understanding the enemy and building relationships.
“Your readiness can be attributed to the Marshall Center’s
hands-on approach to teaching,” he said. “The center’s talented staff realizes
that when pursuing our adversaries, good CTOC strategists strive to outsmart
and stay one step ahead.”
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