The Effects of Structural and Environmental Conditions on Insurgent Organization Participation in Illicit Activities,1998-2012
Open Access
Author:
Staricka, Allison
Area of Honors:
Political Science
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Andrew Vitek, Thesis Supervisor Michael Barth Berkman, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Insurgency Crime
Abstract:
Insurgent organizations are often understood in the context of anti-state violence, yet their involvement in and perpetuation of criminal activities globally, such as smuggling or drug trafficking, is broadly observed. While these activities have been addressed by theories such as the crime-terror nexus, research examining the role of environmental variables on whether insurgency organizations opt to engage in criminal activities is mainly unstudied. This paper seeks to remedy this and explore the structural and environmental factors that precipitate and allow for an insurgency group’s involvement in criminal activity. Using data from the Big Allied and Dangerous (BAAD) Project on insurgent criminal behavior and measures of government strength from the Quality of Governance dataset, this project quantitatively tests the effects of structural and environmental variables on insurgent criminal activities.
