International Administration of Justice: The New American Security Frontier

INTERNATIONAL ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE: THE NEW AMERICAN SECURITY FRONTIER by Martin Edwin Andersen T,he collapse of the Soviet empire brought with it a radical change in the nature of security threats to the United States. No longer confronted by an ideologically hostile superpower whose nuclear muscle mirrors its own, the United States faces newdifficulties. One ofthe gravestthough least understood lies in international law enforcement. Mafia-like international cartels, drug trafficking, money laundering, and the spread of arms and weapons technologies, have rendered obsolete many ofthe policies successfully used in the era of bipolar confrontation. "Advances in communications, transportation and weapons technology have all increased the ability ofcriminals with access to these technologies to commit their crimes and evade prosecution," State Department diplomat Frank G. Wisner told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a hearing last June. International crime undermines national economies and erodes public confidence in civilian political leadership and republican institutions . Criminals with global reach are outstripping the capabilities ofweak, inexperienced law enforcement agencies in emerging democracies. Martin Edwin Andersen (SAIS MA 1981) was a professional staff member ofthe Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has served as Director ofLatin American programs and the Civil-Military Project ofthe Washington-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. He is the editor of the book, Hacia una nueva relación: El papel de las Fuerzas Armadas en un gobierno democrático. (Buenos Aires: National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, 1990), and his latest book, Dossier Secreto: Argentina's Desaparecidos and the Myth of the "Dirty War" (Boulder: Westview Press) is to be published early this year. 89 90 SAIS REVIEW The Bank of Commerce and Credit International scandal exposed the difficulties law enforcement agencies had in monitoring the operations of a multinational bank which used highly sophisticated modern business techniques and communications equipment in dozens ofcountries. Federal investigators point out that the bank sought out jurisdictions where law enforcement was unsophisticated or did not exist. Growing cooperation between international criminal organizations comes as the world economy is evermore vulnerable totheirclout. Examples abound. A three-year undercover operation last fall led to the arrest of more than 200 persons in six countries and provided evidence that criminal families in southern Italy had established strongties to the American Mafia and Colombian drug dealers.1 Mafiosi in Sicily, Naples, and Calabria, and the drug cartels of Cali and Medellin find new opportunities for money laundering in the cash economies ofthe new democracies and their newlyprivate unregulated banks. The number of foreign banks operating in the United States, and the ease with which billions of dollars can be shipped by electronic transfer in a matter of seconds, are largely responsible for the $100 billion in cocaine profits shipped from the United States to foreign banks annually, according to U.S. investigators.2 The new awareness about the internationalization of crime comes at an uncertain juncture in the post-Cold War world. Large armed forces; increases in reported crime; and insecure environments for needed foreign investment have thrown up roadblocks in what many had briefly hailed as a progression to a new and more humane world. In nations as different as El Salvador and Russia, weak law enforcement has brought with it complaints that non-authoritarian or democratic rule results in unsafe streets.3 In a growing number of developing nations, effective civilian rule remains impeded by armies whose main role lies in internal security; the persecution ofdomestic enemies, rather than national defense. The subordination oflocal police forces to the armed forces, often the result ofoutmoded U.S. counterinsurgency doctrines, has produced demoralization, led to a lack of professionalism in the police, and encouraged the armed forces to remain involved in politics. The dangers inherent in military solutions to law enforcement can be seen in the recent barracks rebellions in Venezuela, one of Latin America's oldest democracies. Events in Haiti and Peru offer even graver examples of a continued reliance on military forces to carry 1."World Crime Groups Expand Cooperation, Spheres of Influence," Washington Post, October 5, 1992; "Colombian Antidrug Effort is Challenged By Political Resistance, Cartel Shift to Heroin," Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 31, 1992. 2."Lax Rules Blamed in Bank Schemes," Los...