State and Nonstate Associated Gangs: Credible 'Midwives of New Social Orders'

摘要

This monograph introduces a misunderstood aspect of 'wars among the people.' The author addresses the interesting subject of the multifaceted nature and predominant role of gangs operating as state and nonstate proxies in the modern unbalanced global security environment. In every phase of the process of compelling radical political change, agitator-gangs and popular militias play significant roles in helping their political patrons prepare to take control of a targeted political-social entity. One can take an important step toward understanding these aspects of the political wars in our midst by examining some selected cases. This monograph examines examples of contemporary populism and neopopulism, 21st century socialism, and a nonstate actor (al- Qaeda) seeking regional and global hegemony. First, there are the paramilitary gang permutations in Colombia that are contributing significantly to the erosion of the Colombian state and its democratic institutions, and implementing the anti-system objectives of their elite neopopulist sponsors. Second, there is Hugo Chavez's use of the New Socialism and popular militias to facilitate his populist Bolivarian dream of creating a mega-state in Latin America, Third, there is al-Qaeda's strategic and hegemonic use of political- criminal gangs to coerce substantive change in Spanish and other Western European foreign and defense policies and governance. The motives and actions of these diverse groups are further complicated by their evershifting alliances with insurgents, transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), drug cartels, warlords, governments that want to maintain a plausible denial of aggressive action, and any other state or nonstate actor that might require the services of a mercenary gang organization or surrogate.