Moises Naim's "Illicit" represents a good attempt to provide a (rather general) overview of the main types of illicit trade. Unfortunately, the book does not go beyond the overview-level. It is way too superficial and lacks depth. A disappointment...

Although a few years old now, this book provides a timeless and fact-based perspective of how illicit trade/trans-national crime affects not only our economy, but the very security of our nation.

What do fake Rolex watches sold in New York street fairs have in common with DVDs on sale in Hong Kong, with prostitution in Phnom Penh, and with breached fences between Mexico and Texas?

They are all manifestations of a new world phenomenon, illicit trade.

With globalization eliminating the restrictive controls imposed on international trade, goods and services flow more freely, but of course the intention is for legitimate business to take place. Unfortunately the mushrooming of legitimate business flows and activities have created a stream in which illegal business can travel undetected alongside legitimate trading. Because controls have for all practical purposes been abolished, illegal business deals can hide much more easily. This effect was unintended, largely unforeseen, and it is what links child prostitutes in Bangkok to illegal immigrant workers in the US.

Moisés Naím comprehensively describes the most important areas of the illicit global trade. The first two chapters explain the concept of illicit trade and smuggling, then following chapters examine individual illicit industries: the arms trade, the drug trade, the slave trade, intellectual property theft, the human organ trade, etc.

Naím concludes that because of the volumes and of the amounts of money involved, none of this trade would be possible without tacit government and corporate support, usually in the form of outright corruption or passive acceptance. He describes how money from illicit operations is laundered to appear legitimate. One surprising finding is how drugs, because they are compact, are used to move profits around: the million dollar haul from an illegal lumber trade is more easily carried around as a pound of pure heroin than as a large suitcase full of cash!

He also describes how government agencies are corrupted, and how the very structure of government service keeps them from cooperating effectively. And that's _within_ a country! Between agencies in different countries, it is even more difficult to build trusting relationships.

Naím isn't completely without hope. He shows journalists as being effective investigators, at great peril to their lives. He sees non-government organizations (NGOs) as being innovative, flexible, and driven in a way government agencies cannot hope to ever be. He closes with advice on what we can do as private individuals to stem what he calls the hijacking of the global economy.

Vincent Poirier, Tokyo

This book gives you an insightful view of the new world (dis)order. Fact is stranger than fiction.

This book gives you an insightful view of the new world (dis)order. Fact is stranger than fiction.

This is a dense expose of the dark side of globalization. The depth and detail of topics seems out of place for a book that can fit in your pocket. Illicit reads like crime thriller or espionage novel but provides tangible facts that are useful for the professional and accessible to the layman. The most pivotal quote Naim's assertion that "illicit traffic is about transactions and not products." There is a solution within this quote, one that shifts enforcement resources to blocking the transfer of money and contraband rather than the contraband itself. Illicit is a modern handbook of global crime trends that will leave you alarmed, disgusted and enlightened.

Interesting, but presents very little information that is not already widely known. The author's recurring "everybody-does-it" theme seems to reject the possibility that some cultures are much more prone than others to problematic levels of illicit activity.

Unlawful commerce is changing world economies, influencing international politics, and even undermining some of the foundations of society: this is the argument of ILLICIT: HOW SMUGGLERS, TRAFFICKERS, ARE HIJACKING THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. It's an essential discussion for modern times, surveying the links between seemingly-small illicit users around the world and how globalization is affected by their actions. Any college-level holding strong in international studies, from business to social issues, must have this.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Unlawful commerce is changing world economies, influencing international politics, and even undermining some of the foundations of society: this is the argument of ILLICIT: HOW SMUGGLERS, TRAFFICKERS, ARE HIJACKING THE GLOBAL ECONOMY. It's an essential discussion for modern times, surveying the links between seemingly-small illicit users around the world and how globalization is affected by their actions. Any college-level holding strong in international studies, from business to social issues, must have this.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I'm about a third of the way through the book; very provocative so far. Unfortunately, my copy has no footnotes. The notes are at the end of the chapters as you'd expect, but the numbers they reference are not in the text. Tends to complicate a serious academic reading.

"Illicit" by Moises Naim is a good primer on the underground economy. Mr. Naim's experience as an Editor at Foreign Policy magazine appears to have helped the author hone his skills at synthesizing an impressive quantity of third-party research to support his thesis. It is also evident that Mr. Naim's discussions with numerous high-level personal and professional contacts around the world have helped him reflect on the topic at length, leading him to offer many pages of thoughtful critique and analysis. The end result is a balanced and nuanced book that makes a valuable contribution to our understanding about an increasingly urgent and worrisome problem.

Some might also read Mr. Naim's description of how globalization empowers illicit trade as a riposte to free market cheerleaders such as Thomas Friedman, who tend to equate entrepreneurship with utopianism. To the contrary, we find that many counterfeiters and traffickers are highly skilled and creative people who excel at exploiting decentralized and flexible underground marketing, sales and production networks for personal gain but at great expense to our collective peace and security. According to Mr. Naim, "profits...was the name of the game" for nuclear weapons traders such as A.Q. Khan, and it is on this basis that the struggle to curtail illict trade must be based.

Given that governments around the world are currently losing this struggle, Mr. Naim argues for a strategy of harm reduction including the removal of the artificial barriers that create myriad profit opportunities for criminals. For example, this might include the decriminalization of marijuana. The author reasons that law enforcement could better focus on much more dangerous activities and on enforcing the laws in more readily attainable ways, such as prosecuting major drug dealers and the employers of illegal aliens. I found Mr. Naim's recommendations to be refreshingly commonsensical when compared with the more politically expedient but ineffective supply-side fixes that are proposed by far too many policymakers today.

Regrettably, Mr. Naim fails to take the book to a deeper level of analysis by making a stronger connection between neoliberal ideology, democracy and illicit trade. To be sure, Mr. Naim highlights the fact that some places on our planet have become anarchic, controlled by criminal gangs of all sorts whose economic power has allowed them to buy off their local governments (if they exist at all). However, he does not acknowledge the fairly obvious fact that illicit trade might represent precisely what neoliberalism desires: pure capitalism without the restraining influence of government. Might his recommendations have been made stronger by insisting on ways to achieve meaningful social and environmental justice through radical democratic reforms, rather than plugging holes in an already far too leaky and decrepit system of global neoliberal governance?

Setting aside this reasonable difference in opinion, I found this book to be an engagingly interesting and informative read. I highly recommend it to all.

"In todays labyrinthine routings of contraband across multiple contients, front companies are easy to set up, dozens in order to blur one's trace. As a result intermediaries in international commerce of illicit products, services , & humans have increased their profile and their profits. It is the brokers who control today's illicit markets, set the deals, & make the big money".This is a small snipet of the market place. The markets are just markets/ legal or illegal. Governments decide the righteousness of them. In other words: what is in a true market: cent$, can now be dollar$. It is the magic of a legalized highway robbery called the stroke a pen. Of course its a no brainer that governmemnts are getting greased to hell and back. Through corporate(legal/illegal) sugar daddys or just down and dity in your face corruption. It has penetrated deeply into the private sector, politics, and governments of today. It is penetrating markets deeper, plus horizontally and vertically, and in direct proportion to their profits that control crucial decisions within current national governments (U.S. included). In some cases the national interests are completely aligned with illegal profits. A must read for understanding the a whole picture the global economy. It is an entertaining and informative read. Welcome to globalization. And of course that is on either side of the border: because they own both sides!

"In todays labyrinthine routings of contraband across multiple contients, front companies are easy to set up, dozens in order to blur one's trace. As a result intermediaries in international commerce of illicit products, services , & humans have increased their profile and their profits. It is the brokers who control today's illicit markets, set the deals, & make the big money".This is a small snipet of the market place. The markets are just markets/ legal or illegal. Governmements decide the righteousness of them. In other words: what is in a true market: cent$, can now be dollar$. The magic of a legalized highway robbery stroke of the pen. Of course its a no brainer that governmemnts are getting greased. Through corporate(legal/illegal) sugar daddys or just down and dity in your face corruption. It has penetrated deeply into the private sector, politics, and governments. It is penetrating markets deeper, horizontally and vertically, in direct proportion to their profits, to control crucial decisions within national governments. In some cases the national interests are completely aligned with illegal profits. A must for understanding the workings of a global economy. An entertaining and informative read. Welcome to globalization. Either side of the border: they own it.

"In todays labyrinthine routings of contraband across multiple contients, front companies are easy to set up, dozens in order to blur one's trace. As a result intermediaries in international commerce of illicit products, services , & humans have increased their profile and their profits. It is the brokers who control today's illicit markets, set the deals, & make the big money".This is a small snipet of the market place. The markets are just markets/ legal or illegal. Governmements decide the righteousness of them. In other words: what is in a true market: cent$, can now be dollar$. The magic of a legalized highway robbery stroke of the pen. Of course its a no brainer that governmemnts are getting greased. Through corporate(legal/illegal) sugar daddys or just down and dity in your face corruption. It has penetrated deeply into the private sector, politics, and governments. It is penetrating markets deeper, horizontally and vertically, in direct proportion to their profits, to control crucial decisions within national governments. In some cases the national interests are completely aligned with illegal profits. A must for understanding the workings of a global economy. An entertaining and informative read. Welcome to globalization. Either side of the border: they own it. "Where you go'in to run to"?

"In todays labyrinthine routings of contraband across multiple contients, front companies are easy to set up, dozens in order to blur one's trace. As a result intermediaries in international commerce of illicit products, services , & humans have increased their profile and their profits. It is the brokers who control today's illicit markets, set the deals, & make the big money".This is a small snipet of the market place. The markets are just markets. Governmements decide the righteousness of them. In other words: what is in a true market cent$ can now be dollar$. The magic of legalized highway robbery.
Of course its a no brainer governmemnts are getting greased. Through corporate sugar daddys or down and dity in your face corruption. It has penetrated deeply into the private sector, politics, and governments. It is penetrating markets deeper, horizontally and vertically, in direct proportion to their profits, to control crucial decisions within national governments. In some cases the national interests are completely aligned with illegal profits. Welcome to globalization. Either side of the border: they own it, Right or Wrong; they own The Right(corp) & The Wrong (illicit corp). Where you go'in to run to?

Naim starts his book by describing the corrupting influence of global trade. He argues that the rapid fall in trade barriers during the 90s has produced a boom in illicit trade. Just as it is easier to make an international call or buy clothing manufactured in China, it is now trivial to traffic slaves and contraband. With all their cash flow, smugglers have made a big business of tax evasion. In some places, it is cheaper for smugglers to buy the government than fight it. Once purchased, they can make their line of business 'legal', at least within their own territorial domain. The consumer can politely ignore all of this until smuggler profits fund political violence such as 9/11. The way modern smuggling threatens the peace provides Naim with a great story line, something that should interest a wide audience.

With uncontrolled global trade identified as the primary culprit, Naim turns to detailed stories regarding the immoral traffic in slaves, drugs, body-parts and weapons. I use the term 'immoral' because Naim relies on 'moral outrage' to maintain reader interest.

Naim paints a picture of global smuggling networks composed of independent, but cooperative agents now finding a stealthy niche in international commerce. He shows how these agents arbitrage the differences between legal systems. When useful, they can simply buy the government and grant themselves legitimacy. The amounts of money are huge. They specialize in cross border movement and make the most of high tech gadgets. Take out any individual, and a competitor quickly fills the gap. There is no long vertical chain which would allow police to immobilize the smuggling network by taking out a few kingpins. These networks are very robust.

Naim spends the last 10% of the book on policy recommendations, but they seem tentative and conventional. He lists 6 steps:
1. Enhance surveillance technology (eavesdropping, biometrics, etc.)
2. Unify government agencies (do 'homeland security', but do it right)
3. Give government goals that can be achieved
4. Use global solutions
5. Build political will power to do reasonable things (like legalize marijuana).
6. Get everyone involved.

The 6 step program strikes me as schizophrenic. The first two steps are very conventional 'big government' solutions. The last 4 might be rephrased to read 'educate the voters, and kick out the rascals'. Who wants more big brother programs? What is the educational curriculum, the joys of surveillance?

What gets ignored is rising gang violence. Naim is curiously silent on levels of kidnapping, extortion and blackmail. These problems are particularly bad on the borders. Nor does Naim discuss theft of real property. For example, the theft of electricity and oil from various energy networks (bunkering) never makes it into his book.

Rather than explore the nature of network violence, Naim seeks to show 'illicit' trade is simply an economic issue. Time and again, Naim tells us that these criminals are capitalists, driven by economic goals. He asks us to think of them as bankers rather than bootleggers. They are driven by profits and only become 'criminals' because of misguided political events. Naim argues that few bootleggers are purely doing illicit business. They are really generalists. Almost all have some 'licit' business. Further, if you really take a close look at yourself, everyone has done an 'illicit' deal at some point in their lives. We are all in the 'illicit' business.

It is a little harder to make this case if robbery, kidnapping, extortion and blackmail are included in the list of 'illicit' activities. One can argue that economics illuminates murderous motivations, but I've always found such arguments hollow. I'm not convinced that thugs are purely economic actors. The thugs I've met instinctively like violence and domination, regardless the economic consequences.

Naim spends the last 10 pages describing the declining importance of the 'nation-state'. He derides the Bush administration for expecting terrorism to be 'state sponsored'. This represents a 7th recommendation. He argues that terrorist are sponsored by global illicit trade, not 'states'. Instead of looking for the 'state', we should be looking for the 'network'. One is left wondering what 'looking for the network' might mean.

Naim starts his book by describing the corrupting influence of global trade. He argues that the rapid fall in trade barriers during the 90s has produced a boom in illicit trade. Just as it is easier to make an international call or buy clothing manufactured in China, it is now trivial to traffic slaves and contraband. With all their cash flow, smugglers have made a big business of tax evasion. In some places, it is cheaper for smugglers to buy the government than fight it. Once purchased, they can make their line of business 'legal', at least within their own territorial domain. The consumer can politely ignore all of this until smuggler profits fund political violence such as 9/11. The way modern smuggling threatens the peace provides Naim with a great story line, something that should interest a wide audience.

With uncontrolled global trade identified as the primary culprit, Naim turns to detailed stories regarding the immoral traffic in slaves, drugs, body-parts and weapons. I use the term 'immoral' because Naim relies on 'moral outrage' to maintain reader interest. Most of the book is a long string of outrage stories: parents selling their daughters to pimps, impoverished fathers selling a kidney to feed their family, drug kingpins funding hospitals to brush up their public image, etc.

Naim spends the last 10% of the book on policy recommendations, but they seem tentative and conventional. He lists 6 steps:
1. Enhance surveillance technology (eavesdropping, biometrics, etc.)
2. Unify government agencies (do 'homeland security', but do it right)
3. Give government goals that can be achieved
4. Use global solutions
5. Build political will power to do reasonable things (like legalize marijuana).
6. Get everyone involved.

The 6 step program strikes me as schizophrenic. The first two steps are very conventional 'big government' solutions. The last 4 might be rephrased to read 'educate the voters, and kick out the rascals'. Who wants more big brother programs? What is the educational curriculum, the joys of surveillance?

What gets ignored is rising gang violence. Naim is curiously silent on levels of kidnapping, extortion and blackmail. These problems are particularly bad on the borders. Nor does Naim discuss theft of real property. For example, the theft of electricity and oil from various energy networks (bunkering) never makes it into his book.

Rather than explore the nature of network violence, Naim seeks to show 'illicit' trade is simply an economic issue. Time and again, Naim tells us that these criminals are capitalists, driven by economic goals. He asks us to think of them as bankers rather than bootleggers. They are driven by profits and only become 'criminals' because of misguided political events. Naim argues that few bootleggers are purely doing illicit business. They are really generalists. Almost all have some 'licit' business. Further, if you really take a close look at yourself, everyone has done an 'illicit' deal at some point in their lives. We are all in the 'illicit' business.

It is a little harder to make this case if robbery, kidnapping, extortion and blackmail are included in the list of 'illicit' activities. One can argue that economics illuminates murderous motivations, but I've always found such arguments hollow. I'm not convinced that thugs are purely economic actors. The thugs I've met instinctively like violence and domination, regardless the economic consequences.

Naim spends the last 10 pages describing the declining importance of the 'nation-state'. He derides the Bush administration for expecting terrorism to be 'state sponsored'. This represents a 7th recommendation. He argues that terrorist are sponsored by global illicit trade, not 'states'. Instead of looking for the 'state', we should be looking for the 'network'. One is left wondering what 'looking for the network' might mean.

Naim starts his book by describing the corrupting influence of global trade. He argues that the rapid fall in trade barriers during the 90s has produced a boom in both licit and illict trade. Just as it is easier to make an international call or buy clothing manufactured in China, it is easier to traffic slaves, drugs, body-parts, and weapons. With all their cash flow, smugglers have made a big business of tax evasion. In some places, it is cheaper for smugglers to buy the government than fight it. Once purchased, they can make their line of business 'legal', at least within their own territorial domain. The consumer can politely ignore all of this until smuggler profits fund political violence such as 9/11. The way modern smuggling threatens the peace provides Naim with a great story line, something that should interest a wide audience.

With uncontrolled global trade identified as the primary culprit, Naim turns to detailed stories regarding the immoral traffic in slaves, drugs, body-parts and weapons. I use the term 'immoral' because Naim relies on 'moral outrage' to maintain reader interest. Most of the book is a long string of outrage stories: parents selling their daughters to pimps, impoverished fathers selling a kidney to feed their family, drug kingpins funding hospitals to brush up their public image, etc.

Unfortunately, these stories fail to inform. Instead, they merely pander to a set of stereotypes. Moral outrage is peculiarly blind.. Moral outrage has produced many of the unenforceable prohibitions Naim documents. Naim never notices that the 'moral outrage' he strives to communicate to his readers is exactly the same emotion which founded the prohibitions he laments (such as marijuana criminalization). In fact, when he finally gets around to some policy recommendations, he says 'over time we have allowed moral exhortations to substitute for honest analysis of the problem, and that is a dangerous tendency.' He doesn't noticed that the heart of his book is 'moral exhortation'. He calls for rational reform, but fails to establish any rational for a cost/benefit analysis.

Naim spends the last 10% of the book on policy recommendations, but they seem tentative and conventional. He lists 6 steps:
1. Enhance survealence technology (eavesdropping)
2. Defragment government (do 'homeland security', but do it right)
3. Give government goals that can be achieved
4. Use global solutions
5. Build political will power to do reasonable things (like legalize marijuana).
6. Get everyone involved.

This 6 step program strikes me as schizophrenic. The first two steps are very conventional 'big government' solutions. The last 4 might be rephrased to read 'educate the voters, and kick out the rascals'. Additionally, Naim is curiously silent on the rise of petty violence. None of the 6 steps address simple protection from kidnapping, extortion and blackmail. For example, the theft of electricity and oil from various energy networks (bunkering) never makes it into his book.

Rather than explore the nature of network violence, Naim seeks to show 'illicit' trade is simply an economic issue. In his view, by changing a few laws everything can be put right. Time and again, Naim tells us that these criminals are capitalists, driven by economic goals. He asks us to think of them as bankers rather than bootleggers. They are driven by profits and only become 'criminals' because of misguided political events. Further, few bootleggers are purely doing illicit business. They are really generalists. Almost all have some 'licit' business. Further, if you really take a close look at yourself, everyone has done an 'illicit' deal at some point in their lives. We are all in the 'illicit' business.

It is a little harder to make this case if robbery, kidnapping, extortion and blackmail are included in the list of 'illicit' activities. Other authors understand the rising violence in terms of '3rd generation gangs' or 'the coming anarchy', but neither are mentioned by Naim. He concludes the book with a commentary on the declining importance of the 'nation-state', and without saying it, the rising importance of gangs. He derides the Bush administration for expecting terrorism to be 'state sponsored'. He argues that terrorist are sponsored by global illicit trade, not 'states'. Instead of looking for the 'state', we should be looking for the 'network' (gang?). This is as close as he can come addressing the issue of networked thugs. I'm not convinced that thugs are purely economic actors. The thugs I've met instictively like violence and domination, regardless the economic consequences.

A better book would eschew the moral indignation plotline. Additionally, it would review economics and gang dynamics as interrelated but parallel issues . Illicit trade is more than an economic issue. More demographic and economic data would be useful, but no amount of data will help without an underlying theory of 'crime' that accounts for theft, murder, rape and slavery. Naim recommends giving politicians realistic goals, but never reviews how public opinion is made and changed. Again, you can't address public opinion without a theory of human nature, and the defenses we erect to protect ourselves from it.

Naim starts his book by describing the corrupting influence of global trade. The rapid fall in trade barriers during the 90s has produced a boom in both licit and illict trade. Just as it is easier to make an international call or buy clothing manufactured in China, it is easier to traffic slaves, drugs, body-parts, and weapons. With all their cash flow, smugglers have made a big business of tax evasion and money laundering. In fact, it is cheaper for smugglers to buy the government than fight it. Once purchased, they can make their line of business 'licit', at least within their own territorial domain. The consumer can politely ignore all of this until smuggler profits fund large scale violence such as 9/11. The way modern smuggling threatens the peace provides Naim with a great story line, something that should interest a wide audience.

With uncontrolled global trade identified as the primary culprit, Naim turns to detailed stories regarding the immoral traffic in slaves, drugs, body-parts and weapons. I use the term 'immoral' because Naim relies on 'moral outrage' to maintain reader interest. Most of the book is a long string of outrage stories: parents selling their daughters to pimps, impoverished fathers selling a kidney to feed their family, drug kingpins funding hospitals to brush up their public image, etc.

Unfortunately, these stories fail to inform. Instead, they merely pander to a set of stereotypes. Moral outrage is peculiarly blind.. Moral outrage has produced many of the unenforceable prohibitions Naim documents. Naim never notices that the 'moral outrage' he strives to communicate to his readers is exactly the same emotion which founded the prohibitions he laments (such as marijuana criminalization). In fact, when he finally gets around to some policy recommendations, he says 'over time we have allowed moral exhortations to substitute for honest analysis of the problem, and that is a dangerous tendency.' He doesn't noticed that the heart of his book is 'moral exhortation'. He calls for rational reform, but fails to establish any rational for a cost/benefit analysis.

Naim spends the last 10% of the book on policy recommendations, but they seem tentative and conventional. He lists 6 steps:
1. Enhance survealence technology (eavesdropping)
2. Defragment government (do 'homeland security', but do it right)
3. Give government goals that can be achieved
4. Use global solutions
5. Build political will power to do reasonable things (like legalize marijuana).
6. Get everyone involved.

Naim is curiously silent on a variety of less emotionally charged issues. He doesn't explore the persistence of trans-African chattel slavery. He passes over rising rates of kidnapping, extortion and blackmail. He ignores the theft of electricity and oil from various energy networks (bunkering). In my view, these topics are far more important.

Naim seeks to show 'illicit' trade to be an economic issue. In his view, by changing a few laws everything can be put right.. These criminals are capitalists, driven by economic goals. He asks us to think of them as bankers rather than bootleggers. They are driven by profits and only become 'criminals' because of misguided political events. Further, few bootleggers are purely doing illicit business. They are really generalists. Almost all have some 'licit' business. Further, if you really take a close look at yourself, everyone has done an 'illicit' deal at some point in their lives. We are all in the 'illicit' business.

It is a little harder to make this case if robbery, kidnapping, extortion and blackmail are included in the list of 'illicit' activities. The book will probably sell well with those capitalist is the source of all evil.

A better book would eschew the moral indignation plotline and look into the darker aspects of human nature. Illicit trade is more than an economic issue. More demographic and economic data would be useful, but no amount of data will help without an underlying theory of 'crime' that accounts for theft, murder, rape and slavery. Naim recommends giving politicians realistic goals, but never reviews how public opinion is made and changed. Again, you can't address public opinion without a theory of human nature, and the defense we erect to protect ourselves from it. Obviously, there is a natural desire to do the right thing, but we all know where a road paved with good intentions leads.

Naim concludes the book with a commentary on the declining importance of the 'nation-state'. He derides Bush administration for expecting terrorism to be 'state sponsored'. He argues that terrorist are sponsored by global illicit trade, not 'states'. Instead of looking for the 'state', we should be looking for the 'network'.

This is a fairly interesting notion, but deserves more than few pages concluding the book.

Naim does a fair job of describing immoral commerce in sex-slaves, drugs, body-parts, weapons and concurrent tax evasion. I use the term 'immoral' because Naim relies on 'moral outrage' to maintain reader interest. The book is a long string of outrage stories: parents selling their daughters to pimps, impoverished fathers selling a kidney to feed their family, drug kingpins funding hospitals to brush up their public image, etc.

Unfortunately, moral outrage is peculiarly blind.. Moral outrage has produced many of the unenforceable prohibitions Naim documents. Naim never notices that the 'moral outrage' he strives to communicate to his readers is exactly the same emotion which founded the prohibitions he laments (such as marijuana criminalization). In fact, when he finally gets around to some policy recommendations, he says 'over time we have allowed moral exhortations to substitute for honest analysis of the problem, and that is a dangerous tendency.' He doesn't noticed this 90% of his books is 'moral exhortation'.

Naim spends the last 10% of the book on policy recommendations, but they seem tentative and conventional. He lists 6 steps:
1. Enhance survealence technology (eavesdropping)
2. Defragment government (do 'homeland security', but do it right)
3. Give government goals that can be achieved
4. Use global solutions
5. Build political will power to do reasonable things (like legalize marijuana).
6. Get everyone involved.

Naim is curiously silent on a variety of less emotionally charged issues. He doesn't explore the persistence of trans-African chattel slavery. He passes over rising rates of kidnapping, extortion and blackmail. He ignores the theft of electricity and oil from various energy networks (bunkering). In my view, these topics are far more important.

Naim seeks to show 'illicit' trade to be an economic issue. In his view, by changing a few laws everything can be put right.. These criminals are capitalists, driven by economic goals. He asks us to think of them as bankers rather than bootleggers. They are driven by profits and only become 'criminals' because of misguided political events. Further, few bootleggers are purely doing illicit business. They are really generalists. Almost all have some 'licit' business. Further, if you really take a close look at yourself, everyone has done an 'illicit' deal at some point in their lives. We are all in the 'illicit' business.

It is a little harder to make this case if robbery, kidnapping, extortion and blackmail are included in the list of 'illicit' activities. The book will probably sell well with those capitalist is the source of all evil.

A better book would eschew the moral indignation plotline and look into the darker aspects of human nature. Illicit trade is more than an economic issue. More demographic and economic data would be useful, but no amount of data will help without an underlying theory of 'crime' that accounts for theft, murder, rape and slavery. Naim recommends giving politicians realistic goals, but never reviews how public opinion is made and changed. Again, you can't address public opinion without a theory of human nature, and the defense we erect to protect ourselves from it. Obviously, there is a natural desire to do the right thing, but we all know where a road paved with good intentions leads.

Naim concludes the book with a commentary on the declining importance of the 'nation-state'. He derides Bush administration for expecting terrorism to be 'state sponsored'. He argues that terrorist are sponsored by global illicit trade, not 'states'. Instead of looking for the 'state', we should be looking for the 'network'.

This is a fairly interesting notion, but deserves more than few pages concluding the book.

Naim does a fair job of describing immoral commerce in sex-slaves, drugs, body-parts, weapons and concurrent tax evasion. I use the term 'immoral' because Naim relies on 'moral outrage' to maintain reader interest. The book is a long string of outrage stories: parents selling their daughters to pimps, impoverished fathers selling a kidney to feed their family, drug kingpins funding hospitals to brush up their public image, etc.

Unfortunately, moral outrage can be a moral outrage itself. Moral outrage has produced many of the unenforceable prohibitions Naim documents. Naim never notices that the 'moral outrage' he strives to communicate to his readers is exactly the same principal which founds the prohibitions he laments (such as marijuana criminalization).

Naim spends the last 10% of the book on policy recommendations, but they seem tentative. This sounds insensitive, but Naim advocates little more than 'rescind the laws prohibiting that which prior generations thought morally repugnant, but outlaw that which we now find morally repugnant.' It is hardly compelling, unless one shares the same hot buttons.

The book could have been greatly improved with more demographic and economic data. Naim never explores 'total economic costs', nor does he review historical trends such as 'percent of population addicted' or 'percent of GDP spend on law enforcement', etc.

Naim is curiously blind to a variety of less emotionally charged illicit matters. He doesn't explore the persistence of trans-African chattel slavery. He skips kidnapping, extortion and blackmail rackets. He ignores the theft of electricity and oil from various energy networks (bunkering). In my view, these topics are far more important. The focus on sex-slaves and drug running probably incites anger towards 'global trade'. It is more relevant to worry about the rising risk of extortion amid a decline in local police effectiveness.

A better book would eschew the moral indignation paradigm and review 'best practices', contemporary and historic. In this light, one might do a better job of balancing one's natural desire to do the right thing, against the possibility that those prone to fits of righteous indignation can be easily manipulated.

Naim does a fair job of describing immoral commerce in sex-slaves, drugs, body-parts, weapons and concurrent tax evasion. I use the term 'immoral' because Naim relies on 'moral outrage' to maintain reader interest. The book is a long string of outrage stories: parents selling their daughters to pimps, impoverished fathers selling a kidney to feed their family, drug kingpins funding hospitals to brush up their public image, etc.

Unfortunately, moral outrage can be a moral outrage itself. Moral outrage has produced many of the unenforceable prohibitions Naim documents. Naim never notices that the 'moral outrage' he strives to communicate to his readers is exactly the same principal which founds the prohibitions he laments (such as marijuana criminalization). He spends the last 10% of the book on policy recommendations which boil down to little more than 'rescind the laws prohibiting that which prior generations thought morally repugnant, but outlaw that which I personally find morally repugnant.' It hardly compelling, unless one has already shares the same agenda. Additionally, Naim never explores 'total economic costs', nor does he review historical trends such as 'percent of population addicted' or 'percent of GDP spend on law enforcement', etc.

Naim is curiously blind to a variety of less emotionally charged illicit matters. He doesn't explore the persistence of trans-African chattel slavery. He skips kidnapping, extortion and blackmail rackets. He ignores the theft of electricity and oil from various energy networks (bunkering). In my view, these topics are far more important. The focus on sex-slaves and drug running probably incites anger towards 'global trade'. It is more relevant to worry about the rising risk of extortion amid a decline in local police effectiveness.

A better book would eschew the moral indignation paradigm and review 'best practices', contemporary and historic. In this light, one might do a better job of balancing one's natural desire to do the right thing, against the possibility that those prone to fits of righteous indignation can be easily manipulated.

Naim does a fair job of describing immoral commerce in sex-slaves, drugs, body-parts, weapons and concurrent tax evasion. I use the term 'immoral' because Naim relies on 'moral outrage' to maintain reader interest. The book is a long string of outrage stories: parents selling their daughters to pimps, impoverished fathers selling a kidney to feed their family, drug kingpins funding hospitals to brush up their public image, etc.

Unfortunately, moral outrage is probably counter productive. Moral outrage has produced many of the unenforceable prohibitions Naim documents. Naim never notices that the 'moral outrage' he strives to communicate to his readers is exactly the same principal upon which the prohibitions he laments (such as marijuana criminalization) are founded.

Additionally, Naim is curiously blind to a variety of less trendy illicit matters. He doesn't explore chattel slavery in Saudi Arabia. He skips extortion and blackmail rackets. He ignores the theft of electricity and oil from various energy networks (bunkering).

A better book would eschew the moral indignation paradigm and review 'best practices', contemporary and historic. In this light, one might do a better job of balancing one's natural desire to do the right thing, against the possibility that those prone to 'moral outrage' can be easily manipulated.

Illicit is a thought-provoking, though somewhat derivative, study of modern-day transnational crime and the challenges it poses to governments. The significance of interconnections between globalization, illicit trade, and world politics has long been apparent to specialists, if not to inveterate cold warriors and rarefied academic traditionalists. The writer skimps a little on important topics; for example, there is much more to the "loose nukes" problem than the machinations of A.Q. Khan and his associates. However, the chapters are generally an excellent read. As a one-time consultant for Microsoft in greater China, I found the chapter on the cross-cutting economic implications of counterfeiting especially insightful.

Effective countermeasures to illicit trade are necessarily elusive.The author is critical of supply-side enforcement, and indeed it hasn't worked well for drugs and other mass-market commodities. He suggests that to "stand between millions of customers desperate to buy and millions of merchants desperate to sell and stop them" may be asking too much of governments. Demand-side remedies may work better, though for items with great destructive potential, demand-reduction equates to conflict resolution--a long-term and uncertain proposition at best. In such areas, interdiction and source control programs-- locking down Russian nuclear warheads and materials, for example--remain indispensable guarantees of international security and stability.

I'd not heard of Moises Naim or if I had, the name did not ring a bell. I had heard a podcast of a speech he did and he hooked me. Since I have both a personal and professional interest in this area ordered the book.

I found it very interesting and pretty well written. It covered a lot of important areas and I learned a few new things. I think the most valuable aspect of the book is the way he looks at illicit trade as more or less independent of the goods, services or people being traded.

However, I found a number of things that set me to tingling.

In one section he says that COngress voted to make Assault Rifles legal. This is not exactly true. They used to be legal, they were banned for a specific number of years and when the ban expired it was not renewed. It's not quite a lie but close. In the following sentence he quotes a Colombian(?) minister as saying that the US had made "machine guns" legal. The implication, which Naim does nothing to correct being that assault rifles are fully automatic. Machine guns continue to be illegal in the US.

He says, sort of in passing, that General Michael Kalashnikov is suing the US for distributing counterfeit AK-47's to the Iraqis. I had not heard this and it just sounds hinky. I was unable to find any reference to this, even in the source that Naim cited. (Newsweek)

Speaking of Condaleeza Rice, he refers to her as a "professor". She was not, she was Chancellor of Stanford University. *BIG* difference. A chancellor actually runs a complex organization as opposed to a professor who teaches, writes and does research but runs nothing and is responsible for nothing.

There were a number of other things in the book that were either wrong or felt like they were probably wrong (or perhaps just not quite right). I got the sense that he did this on purpose to promote a point of view but I am not clear what point of view he was actually trying to promote.

So, read the book. It is worth the effort. But take it with several large grains of salt.

John Henry
john@changeover.com

Illicit is a thought-provoking, though somewhat derivative, study of modern-day transnational crime and the challenges it poses to governments. The significance of interconnections between globalization, illicit trade, and world politics has long been apparent to specialists, if not to inveterate cold warriors and rarefied academic traditionalists. The writer skimps a little on important topics; for example, there is much more to the "loose nukes" problem than the machinations of A.Q. Khan and his associates. However, the chapters are generally an excellent read. As a one-time consultant for Microsoft in greater China, I found the chapter on the cross-cutting economic implications of counterfeiting especially insightful.

Effective countermeasures to illicit trade are necessarily elusive.The author is critical of supply-side enforcement, and indeed it hasn't worked well for drugs and other mass-market commodities. He suggests that to "stand between millions of customers desperate to buy and millions of merchants desperate to sell and stop them" may be asking too much of governments. Demand-side remedies may work better, though for items with great destructive potential, demand-reduction equates to conflict resolution--a long-term and uncertain proposition at best. In such areas, interdiction and source control programs-- locking down Russian nuclear warheads and materials, for example--remain indispensable guarantees of international security and stability.

I'd not heard of Moises Naim or if I had, the name did not ring a bell. I had heard a podcast of a speech he did and he hooked me. Since I have both a personal and professional interest in this area ordered the book.

I found it very interesting and pretty well written. It covered a lot of important areas and I learned a few new things. I think the most valuable aspect of the book is the way he looks at illicit trade as more or less independent of the goods, services or people being traded.

However, I found a number of things that set me to tingling.

In one section he says that COngress voted to make Assault Rifles legal. This is not exactly true. They used to be legal, they were banned for a specific number of years and when the ban expired it was not renewed. It's not quite a lie but close. In the following sentence he quotes a Colombian(?) minister as saying that the US had made "machine guns" legal. The implication, which Naim does nothing to correct being that assault rifles are fully automatic. Machine guns continue to be illegal in the US.

He says, sort of in passing, that General Michael Kalashnikov is suing the US for distributing counterfeit AK-47's to the Iraqis. I had not heard this and it just sounds hinky. I was unable to find any reference to this, even in the source that Naim cited. (Newsweek)

Speaking of Condaleeza Rice, he refers to her as a "professor". She was not, she was Chancellor of Stanford University. *BIG* difference. A chancellor actually runs a complex organization as opposed to a professor who teaches, writes and does research but runs nothing and is responsible for nothing.

There were a number of other things in the book that were either wrong or felt like they were probably wrong (or perhaps just not quite right). I got the sense that he did this on purpose to promote a point of view but I am not clear what point of view he was actually trying to promote.

So, read the book. It is worth the effort. But take it with several large grains of salt.

John Henry
john@changeover.com

The 1990s witnessed a new breed of creative and ruthless criminal entrepreneurs that embraced open markets and freer politics on a grand scale. Sealants that once safeguarded borders now have melted away due to changes in politics, technology and economics. As a result, traffickers in illicit goods and services have benefited more than governments.

Each passing day brings a more urgent need for nations to figure out how they are going to combat this cancer. Moreover, they must realize that their traditional ways of thinking about world politics and international relations are ineffective, if they are going to succeed.

Moisýs Naim's Illicit explores the nature of the problem and why governments are not keeping up with the trafficking networks, the terrorist cells, and the parallel markets. Readers are given an extensive tour of the world of the modern traffickers and the manner in which they have hijacked the new world economy with their explosive growth. The author debunks the dominant images that we carry in our popular imagination that traffickers are only freelance smuggler-frontiersman or the `organized crime' syndicate.

Naim, who is the editor of the magazine Foreign Policy, published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former Venezuelan Minister of Industry and Trade, demystifies some of the intrigue that we associate with this new breed of criminals as they traffic in people, drugs, arms, human organs, endangered animals, waste, medicines, software, music, video, apparel, and other goods and services. Moreover, the author explores the counterfeiters' range and their boundless creativity in not only in the manufacturing and distributing of the illicit goods and services, but also in the manner in which they are able to launder the proceeds.

However, as Naim points out, illicit trade is not just about crime, but also it is causing a transformation of the international system, rules are being upended, and new players are now on the scene that are reconfiguring power in international politics and economics. This is all in evidence with the advent of international terrorism, spread of horrific weapons, "rogue regimes," regional wars and ethnic violence, threat of environmental depredation, stability of the world financial system, fierce pressures and aspirations of international migration. According to Naim, "all of these and more find their outlet, their manifestation, and often their sustenance in global illicit trade." Ultimately, the very fabric of our society is at stake.

What is quite ironical is that the traffickers have taken advantage of global industry transformations in that the entire legal and technological apparatus of globalization has helped them and given them a boost in keeping them one step ahead of their pursuers. For example, the removal of border barriers and the abandonment of exchange controls by most countries have certainly expanded the playing fields, while adding flexibility and multiple opportunities.

Naim is not ready to concede that all is lost and he does present some excellent suggestions, however, as he maintains, to succeed in the war against illicit goods and services, it will require more innovative and bold thinking and much-enhanced international co-operation. Moreover, it will involve sensitizing and involving the public in understanding that illicit trade cannot exist without licit trade, as illicit businesses are deeply intertwined with licit ones. It is a global problem that will entail global solutions, wherein governments must be given goals that they can achieve.

Illicit is an exposý of many themes that have been explored elsewhere, however, Naim's strength lies in mounting a very coherent argument pertaining to the present weaknesses of how governments are dealing with the problem. It is an informed and essential read for anyone who wishes to have a sound grasp of the perfidious world of the trafficker.

Norm Goldman Editor Bookpleasures

The central message of this book is that illicit trade is changing the world and we just aren't paying attention. The twin forces of globalized politics and ubiquitous technologies have lowered governments' ability to control their borders and created a fertile ground for transnational trafficking, making it a very profitable business. And the sad news is that we can't do much about it.

Moises Naim's Foreign Policy magazine has a knack of looking at globalization from a different angle, bringing out unfamiliar connections and unanticipated developments. In his new book, he shows that a common thread runs through many headlines and stories: the rise of a black market economy that spans across borders and thrives on the same forces that contribute to making our world a smaller place. China manufactures the fake Prada handbags that Senegalese illegal immigrants peddle on the streets of Rome. Ukrainian arms dealers vacate on the French Riviera using their fat Caribbean bank accounts. Colombian drug lords support local football teams and open legitimate businesses in Spain. Naým connects these disparate stories by analyzing the inner logics of illegal deal making that they have in common.

Like in finance, the name of the illicit game is arbitrage. Smugglers pit governments against markets, thrives in gray zones that escape jurisdictions and use borders as an opportunity for commerce and a shield against law enforcement. Black market corporations or networks have adopted the strategies of the business world. They diversify their assets and sources of revenue, lobby governments with a view to those officials most amenable to corruption, and invest into legitimizing social activities like charities or the arts. Indeed it is surprising to see how philanthropy and crime are often intertwined. This reinforces the message that illegal trade is driven by high profits, not low morals.

Although no government can claim success in the fight against trafficking, there are a few suggestions that they could follow. Officials have to learn how to work across agencies in order to catch the multi-sector, ever-shifting nature of illicit networks. Combating illicit trade could include some selective deregulation in order to squeeze profits out of the sector and move the border between what is legal and what is not, allowing law enforcers to concentrate on the most egregious forms of abuse. Industries should also consider investing into control technologies rather than hiring lawyers and lobbyists: much as dealers and traffickers benefited from the technology boom of the 1990s that created new opportunities for them, they now face a technological counter-attack that makes it harder for them to conduct their trade and peddle their wares.

"Illicit" provides an interesting (but sometimes repetitive) summary of the various genre of illicit trade, difficulties in prosecuting such activities and how they sometimes conflict with government decision-making, but little in the way of data that allows one to put the topic into perspective - eg. what percentage of total trade is illicit, and how is that changing over time? (Steel's review provides some data, but no details as to its origin.)

Naim states that illicit trade in developing nations and those leaving communism is often the most powerful vested interest - in some cases more powerful than government. Raising barriers simply increases profit rates and incentives.

Arms Trade: A. Q. Khan, national hero in Pakistan, has provided nuclear technology to other nations (presumably for primarily economic, rather than ideologic reasons), surplus arms released from Cold War downsizing, arms manufacturers seeking to replace former markets and unguarded Iraq arsenals have all served to increase supply. As for deterrence, Naim points out that the U.S. (under Bush II) sidetracked a U.N. conference on illicit trade in small arms/light weapons on the grounds that such would violate its Constitution.

Drugs: Naim reports that research has led to new forms of cocaine resistant to herbicides and increased plant size, while violence and bribes are endemic in the industry.

Counterfeiting of software, drugs, music, consumer goods, parts, etc. represents 5-10% of GDP, per Naim.

Moneylaundering, a prime concern of those opposing terrorism, is aided by the very large flows of money, reduction of exchange controls, reduced restrictions on foreign investment, and the ease with which one can break down large amounts for electronic transfer using computers and the Internet.

Other topics include organ trafficking, stolen art and antiquities.

Barriers include multiple jurisdictions within a nation - combined with "stove-piping" structures that inhibit sharing information across similar levels, variation in what's illegal in the nations involved, involvement of multiple nations, and serious threats and bribes for those that would oppose illicit activity. Industry group efforts to contain eg. software piracy are cited as a "plus" by Naim.

Naim recommends reducing the overfocus on supply-side (eg. illegal immigrants - focus more on employers), terrorism as a state issue, increased use of biometrics, and decriminalization of some areas such as marijuana and counterfeiting of consumer goods to allow increased focus on more serious areas. Good suggestions, but not likely to make major impact.

Illicit bursts with detail and example, though it contains very little in the way of illustrative anecdotes. The author seems mainly concerned with communicating two main points. First, our conceptions about the nature and organizational structure of international trafficking networks has fallen dangerously out of date. Second, operating assumptions and ideological sacred cows prevent governments from framing the problem of illicit trafficking in a way that will allow for constructive action.

Concerning the first point, the "cartel and kingpin" conception of narco-trafficking formed and propagated in the 80's no longer applies. Our present counter-narcotics strategies assume that the enemy organization has a hierarchical structure with information and power flowing up and down a chain of command. In fact, trafficking organizations these days take the form of decentralized networks which shift continuously, assuming new configurations as opportunities present themselves and then morphing again to meet the needs of the next moment. Also, today's traffickers don`t specialize in a single commodity like cocaine. Instead, they move whatever goods present an opportunity for profit in the present moment; drugs today, arms tomorrow, people the next day and then knock-off designer handbags after that. Only the small players at the beginning and end of the supply chain specialize in particular products, e.g. the Bolivian coca farmer and the illegal immigrant selling bootlegged DVDs or knock-off Rolexes on the streets of New York.

The author's second point concerns two ideological sacred cows. First, he warns against the politically entrenched practice of talking about illicit traffic in strictly moral terms. Government officials denounce illicit traffickers as evil-doers rather than acknowledging that traffickers act from economic motives determined by market forces. Drugs and other illicit goods bring great financial reward when moved from one place where traffickers can purchase them at a low price to some other place where they command a high price. Adaptive systems like markets and networks make short work of the kinds of problems that prohibition-minded bureaucratic hierarchies place in their way. Talking about illicit trafficking in economic rather than moral terms would produce a more intelligent discussion and offer more effective courses of action.

Here and there throughout the early chapters, the author drops the occasional hint that he advocates legalizing marijuana, and at the book's end he makes that point explicit. In a free society marked by an ever-increasing volume of international trade, governments will have to pick their battles. Spending billions to try to interrupt the traffic in marijuana makes no sense if we hope to make any headway curtailing the trade in nuclear weapons technology, radiological materials and sex slaves. Don't mistake Naim for any kind of Libertarian. He makes it quite clear that he wants to see governments win the battle against illicit traffickers. He just knows that, realistically speaking, we have to prioritize, and that trying to keep millions of eager marijuana customers from millions of eager sellers serves no useful purpose and consumes resources that could otherwise be put to good use.

The other ideological sacred cow involves national sovereignty. Naim doesn't advocate subordinating the US federal government to the U.N., but he does call for much greater coordination of efforts with our closest allies, and such a move will entail some compromise of the absolute national sovereignty upon which the US government now insists.

As good a summary as is currently available on the nefarious and complex ties between the illegal trafficking of drugs, arms and humans. The author writes in crisp, clean prose and doesn't linger on salacious or disgusting facts. This is the place to start for a thorough, global understanding of these crimes that make up the Top Three of illegal traffic--resulting in tens of billions of dollars worldwide. The author's ultimate conclusions are a bit tepid, but that is not his strength. Summary, shaving away the extra and keeping all that is informative and essential--in this area, the book excels.

This is the second book to read in understanding human trafficking, all available on Amazon. First, read 'Race Against Evil: The Secret Missions of the Interpol Agent Who Tracked the World's Most Sinister Criminals' followed by 'The Natashas : Inside the New Global Sex Trade;' and then 'Woman, Child for Sale: The New Slave Trade in the 21st Century.'

This is one of the the best books I have read this year. I could not stop reading it once I started. It combines jaw-dropping facts that we should all know-- but don't --with fascinating stories about how the globalization of smuggling is changing politics everywhere. As the Editor of The Economist writes in the back cover this book changes the way one sees the world. Naim is a great writer. Read this book.

I have known Moises Naim for many years, and admired his pragmatic approach to managing the content of Foreign Policy, as published under the auspices of the Canegie Endowment for International Peace. He has been Minister of Trade and Industry in Venezuela, a dean and professor of business administration, executive director of the World Bank, and an accomplished thinker and author. Above all he has been moral. He gets it: morality in politics and morality in business are priceless.

This book is important in two very big ways: the first, the one that most are noticing, is that it documents very ably the fact that crime pays--the author has done a superb job of itemizing the global illegal trade industry in a manner that could be understood by anyone, and the bottom line is frightening in that illicit trade is perhaps $2 trillion a year, while legal trade is between $5 trillion and $10 trillion. Off-the-books bartering and immoral invoicing within corporations are additional reducers of government tax revenue--import export tax fraud in the USA is known to be $50 billion a year ($25 rocket engines going out, $10 pencils coming in).

The second reason this book is important, the real value of this book, is in documenting the revenues lost to government. Legalizing prostitition has economic as well as public health implications. Reducing the arms trade, where the US is the greatest exporter of violence and bribery, has implications across ethnic conflict, stability, water and oil conservations, and so on. Eliminating counterfeiting and illegal immigration would have enormous implications for positive constructive government revenue. I personally know where $500 billion a year can be found in additional tax revenue for the US, mostly from eliminating pork barrel subsidies and corporate fraud, and by restoring the traditional share of corporations to the tax fund--when Halliburn pays $15M on billions in profit, when Exxon makes $3 billion in profit in a single quarter with no requisite tax bite, the system is broken. Eliminating crime, and corporate crime, provides the financial foundation for restoring the democratic contract, the social contract, with the working class and the middle class.

Moises Naim has, in brief, delivered the seminal work on one of the five factors that will determine how the human species does in its World War with itself and with bacteria. The other four factors are the end of cheap oil, the end of free water, the virulent re-emergence of infectuous diseases accompanied by the mutation and migration of new diseases from animal hosts to humans; and the promising but by no means assured emergence of collective democratic intelligence, perhaps aided by real-life decision support games such as those produced by BreakAwayLtd.com.

I consider Dr. Naim to be one of the most precious intellects now active--as penetrating but more pragmatic than Joe Nye, as strategic but more pragmatic as Zbigniew Brzezinski, as articulate but more pragmatic than my all time favorite strategist, Dr. Colin Gray from the United Kingdom.

Naim is a giant. He also represents, if I may be permitted an observation from my decades in Latin America and my Colombian-born mother, why Latin America is the future and why the US ignores the Chinese takeover of Latin American lands and resources, the Iranian penetrations, and the related Brazilian, Indian, Pakistani, and Russian incursions, at its peril. Latin America is both the source, and the solution, for most of the illicit trade that undermines the Republic. It's time we recognize that morality matters, crime is a greater threat than isolated terrorism, and Latin America is part of the Americas--the part that may achieve informed populist democracy before the USA recovers from the neo-conservative coup d'etat and ethical misadventures of a White House owned by Halliburton and dismissive of both the domestic and international publics.

I have known Moises Naim for many years, and admired his pragmatic approach to managing the content of Foreign Policy, as published under the auspices of the Canegie Endowment for International Peace. He has been Minister of Trade and Industry in Venezuela, a dean and professor of business administration, executive director of the World Bank, and an accomplished thinker and author. Above all he has been moral. He gets it: morality in politics and morality in business are priceless.

This book is important in two very big ways: the first, the one that most are noticing, is that it documents very ably the fact that crime pays--the author has done a superb job of itemizing the global illegal trade industry in a manner that could be understood by anyone, and the bottom line is frightening in that illicit trade is perhaps $2 trillion a year, while legal trade is between $5 trillion and $10 trillion. Off-the-books bartering and immoral invoicing within corporations are additional reducers of government tax revenue--import export tax fraud in the USA is known to be $50 billion a year ($25 rocket engines going out, $10 pencils coming in).

The second reason this book is important, the real value of this book, is in documenting the revenues lost to government. Legalizing prostitition has economic as well as public health implications. Reducing the arms trade, where the US is the greatest exporter of violence and bribery, has implications across ethnic conflict, stability, water and oil conservations, and so on. Eliminating counterfeiting and illegal immigration would have enormous implications for positive constructive government revenue.

Moises Naim has, in brief, delivered the seminal work on one of the five factors that will determine how the human species does in its World War with itself and with bacteria. The other four factors are the end of cheap oil, the end of free water, the virulent re-emergence of infectuous diseases accompanied by the mutation and migration of new diseases from animal hosts to humans; and the promising but by no means assured emergence of collective democratic intelligence, perhaps aided by real-life decision support games such as those produced by BreakAwayLtd.com.

I consider Dr. Naim to be one of the most precious intellects now active--as penetrating but more pragmatic than Joe Nye, as strategic but more pragmatic as Zbigniew Brzezinski, as articulate but more pragmatic than my all time favorite strategist, Dr. Colin Gray from the United Kingdom.

Naim is a giant. He also represents, if I may be permitted an observation from my decades in Latin America and my Colombian-born mother, why Latin America is the future and why the US ignores the Chinese takeover of Latin American lands and resources, the Iranian penetrations, and the related Brazilian, Indian, Pakistani, and Russian incursions, at its peril. Latin America is both the source, and the solution, for most of the illicit trade that undermines the Republic. It's time we recognize that morality matters, crime is a greater threat than isolated terrorism, and Latin America is part of the Americas--the part that may achieve informed populist democracy before the USA recovers from the neo-conservative coup d'etat and ethical misadventures of a White House owned by Halliburton and dismissive of both the domestic and international publics.

I'm a catastrophe freak and normally relish these kinds of books, but there's an element of "the sky is falling" to this tome. Admittedly, the globalization of politics and economics has opened the door to massive illicit activity, an unintended consequence of technology and the fall of the Russian empire, Reagan's gift to all of us. But, in reality, what do we expect poor people around the world to do? They can't afford any of our Western niceties, i.e., luxury goods, so they copy and sell to any buyer very authentically looking fakes. I operate a business in California that trades on a copyrighted name, well-known in our sports-niche market. The trick to our survival? Remain under the radar with a line of products not quite extensive enough to interest the illicit traders. We're not Nike, and maybe it's just as well we're not. Get big, get copied.