Lessons from the Syria-Hezbollah Criminal Syndicate, 1985–2005

IF 1.1 4区 社会学 Q2 AREA STUDIES
Iftah Burman, Yehuda Blanga
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Hezbollah, founded with the intention of destroying Israel, has long engaged in illicit efforts to amass resources the size of some states’ coffers. The Lebanese group's long-running global criminal syndicate with the Assad regime, initially forged in the 1980s, more recently allowed it to fight for more than a decade in the Syrian conflict and to launch attacks on Israel for more than a year during the Gaza war. This article traces the roots of Hezbollah's illicit financial operations, focusing on its collaboration with high-ranking Syrian officers and officials during their country's intervention in Lebanon. It leverages declassified IDF and CIA intelligence reports, Israeli and US government documents, and media reports in Arabic and Hebrew to reveal how the Hezbollah-Syrian partnership engaged in global drug trafficking, currency counterfeiting, and money laundering, then repatriated the earnings. The analysis then suggests how countermeasures used in the past could be repurposed to combat Hezbollah's financing for terrorism and military buildup, and it proposes some new methods, as well.

叙利亚-真主党犯罪集团的教训,1985-2005
以摧毁以色列为目的而成立的真主党长期以来一直从事非法活动,以积累相当于某些国家金库规模的资源。这个黎巴嫩组织与阿萨德政权的长期全球犯罪集团,最初是在20世纪80年代建立的,最近让它在叙利亚冲突中战斗了十多年,并在加沙战争期间对以色列发动了一年多的袭击。本文追溯了真主党非法金融活动的根源,重点关注其在叙利亚干预黎巴嫩期间与叙利亚高级官员和官员的合作。它利用解密的以色列国防军和中央情报局的情报报告,以色列和美国政府文件,以及阿拉伯语和希伯来语的媒体报道,揭示了真主党和叙利亚的伙伴关系如何参与全球毒品贩运,伪造货币和洗钱,然后将收益汇回国内。然后,分析建议如何重新利用过去使用的对策来打击真主党为恐怖主义和军事建设提供资金的行为,并提出了一些新的方法。
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来源期刊
Middle East Policy
Middle East Policy Multiple-
CiteScore
0.70
自引率
20.00%
发文量
49
期刊介绍: The most frequently cited journal on the Middle East region in the field of international affairs, Middle East Policy has been engaging thoughtful minds for more than 25 years. Since its inception in 1982, the journal has been recognized as a valuable addition to the Washington-based policy discussion. Middle East Policy provides an influential forum for a wide range of views on U.S. interests in the region and the value of the policies that are supposed to promote them.
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