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The Caliphate of Crime

The Caliphate of Crime

Labeled as the richest terrorist group in the world, the Islamic State (ISIS) continues to amass substantial funds to bankroll its military, economic, recruitment, and propaganda campaigns. The key sources of ISIS income are grounded in illicit networks, as ISIS utilizes the black market to generate significant revenue streams.

ISIS is far from the only terrorist or hostile organization to accumulate wealth through illicit networks. “For decades, belligerent groups have financed their operations by tapping into a variety of locally available economies, including illegal ones,” explains Dr. Vanda Felbab-Brown, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

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