A Very Real Problem

Posted: November 30th, 2015

By Johan Bergenas

Johan Bergenas is a Senior Associate at the Stimson Center. At Stimson he directs the Economic Security program focused on the interconnections between defense, security and development, as well as environmental security.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t care if Dumbo takes one to the head,” said one senior European law enforcement official to a colleague at an international meeting on transnational organized crime earlier this year. Clearly, not everyone cares about the perils of one of the world’s most iconic creatures, but his statement is strange, because it came at a time when the links between poaching, wildlife crime, and national and global security had been settled.

While many organizations these days are eager to claim credit for highlighting the links between poaching, transnational criminal networks, and even terrorist organizations, if it was not for Hillary Clinton and the United Kingdom government, the issues probably would have remained far, far away from the national and international security debate.

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A Very Real Problem

By Johan Bergenas

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