Christine June at the George C.
Marshall European Center for Security Studies offers the below piece:
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany, Sept. 4, 2018 — 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 (seen in the above photo) 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.”
Note:
The above DoD photo of Thomas Alexander was taken by Karl-Heinz Wedhorn
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