ABSTRACT
The relationship between organised crime (OC) and terrorism is a concept that has been supported within academia. Research has shown that the relationships between criminal and terrorist organisations have adapted one another’s tactics, have cooperated, and in some rare cases, studies have shown that terrorist groups – in certain circumstances – have evolved into a predominantly criminal entity. Studies that highlight these phenomena have largely concentrated on regions characterised by weak or failed state institutions, high levels of state corruption and criminality, and the absence of effective and independent law enforcement. Incidentally, geopolitical ‘hot spots’ and state weakness afford criminal and terrorist groups the ability to operate more openly; thus the relationship between these two groups becomes more easily identifiable. How, then, can we understand the mechanics of this relationship in Western democracies, such as the European Union, where strong state institutions and economic stability force OC groups (OCGs) and terrorist networks to operate ‘in the
CRIMINALS AND TERRORISTS IN PARTNERSHIP
shadows’, masking the nodes of contact between them? How can the peculiarities of these interactions within Western democracies inform study on how and when OCGs and terrorist organisations interact, ally, or adopt tactics from the other?
