Gretchen Peters (journalist)

Last updated
Gretchen Peters
OccupationJournalist
Consultant
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Alma mater Harvard University; University of Denver
Notable worksSeeds of Terror: How Drugs, Thugs, and Crime Are Reshaping the Afghan War
Notable awardsSAJA Journalism Award
Children2
Website
gretchenpeters.org

Gretchen Peters is an American journalist specialized in transnational organized crime and the author of Seeds of Terror: How Drugs, Thugs, and Crime Are Reshaping the Afghan War. [1] She is the executive director of CINTOC, the Center on Illicit Networks and Transnational Organized Crime, an operational think tank set up by Peters herself between 2012 and 2013. CINTOC's work is focused on the intersection between transnational organized crime and national security and the executive director of The Satao Project, a consulting firm that supports governments and industries to counter serious organized crime and corruption, and their convergence with terrorism, violence and social unrest. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Peters has a BA from Harvard University and a Masters in International Relations from the University of Denver's Korbel School of International Studies. [3] At the Korbel School, she was a 2012 recipient of the Sié Chéou-Kang security and diplomacy fellowship and the Association of Former Intelligence Officers Life's Choices Foundation Scholarship. [4]

Career

Peters began her career as a journalist, working at the newspaper The Cambodia Daily in the early years after its launch. [5] For the following ten years, she covered Pakistan and Afghanistan, first for the Associated Press and later as a reporter for ABC News. [6] Peters was nominated for an Emmy for her coverage of the 2007 assassination of Benazir Bhutto [7] and won the SAJA Journalism Award for a Nightline segment on Pervez Musharraf.

In her work as investigative journalist Peters has conducted extensive research on the intersection between transnational organized crime and national security, from drugs and money laundering to wildlife and timber trafficking. Following the publication of her book, she advised U.S. military and diplomats in Afghanistan. [8]

Peters was previously Senior Fellow on Transnational Crime at the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at George Mason University, School of Public Policy. [9] She also co-chaired an OECD Task Force working to improve policy approaches to fight the trafficking of wildlife and other environmentally sensitive goods. Peters serves on the Board of Advisors of the Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. [10]

Convergence

Wildlife, drugs, and US national security

In 2015, Peters traveled to Africa with The Satao Project to study ivory supply chains in Tanzania and Kenya. Her work zeroed in on “a regional ecosystem moving ivory, drugs and guns … a matrix of different organisations that collaborate to move illegal goods along the Swahili coast.” [11] She quickly identified the underlying problem: corruption. “If there’s a network that is moving illegal goods from one country to another, there are inevitably government officials involved, protecting them or looking the other way,” she said. [12] Since then Peters has continued focus on the intersection of wildlife, narcotics, and U.S. national security interests, being cited in multiple articles, briefs, and documentaries.

Terrorism and drug trafficking

In 2009 Peters published Seeds of Terror: How Drugs, Thugs, and Crime Are Reshaping the Afghan War. [13] In the book, Peters argues there is a deepening relationship between the Taliban and drug traffickers. [14] "They start to look more like Tony Soprano and his guys than holy warriors," Peters said in an interview with CBS News. "They behave like criminals. They're involved in the drugs trade, human trafficking, kidnapping, gun running…all sorts of criminal activity." [15] Peters spent five years researching the book, interviewing insurgents, drug kingpins, government officials, and poppy farmers. She discussed the book in a June 2009 appearance on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart . [16]

In 2010 Peters published a paper about the Haqqani network, a Pakistan-based militant group, with West Point's Combating Terrorism Center and in 2012, Peters testified before the U.S. Congress about the Haqqani network. [17]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal drug trade</span> Global black market

The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through the use of drug prohibition laws. The think tank Global Financial Integrity's Transnational Crime and the Developing World report estimates the size of the global illicit drug market between US$426 and US$652 billion in 2014 alone. With a world GDP of US$78 trillion in the same year, the illegal drug trade may be estimated as nearly 1% of total global trade. Consumption of illegal drugs is widespread globally and it remains very difficult for local authorities to thwart its popularity.

Narcoterrorism, in its original context, is understood to refer to the attempts of narcotics traffickers to influence the policies of a government or a society through violence and intimidation, and to hinder the enforcement of anti-drug laws by the systematic threat or use of such violence. As with most definitions of terrorism, it typically only refers to non-state actors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime</span> Intergovernmental organization

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP) and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division in the United Nations Office at Vienna, adopting the current name in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime</span>

The United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime is a 2000 United Nations-sponsored multilateral treaty against transnational organized crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Crescent</span> One of Asias two principal areas of illicit drug production

The Golden Crescent is the name given to one of Asia's two principal areas of illicit opium production. Located at the crossroads of Central, South, and Western Asia, this space covers the mountainous peripheries of Afghanistan and Pakistan, extending into eastern Iran.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opium production in Afghanistan</span> Overview of illicit drug production in Afghanistan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transnational organized crime</span> Organized crime across national borders

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sirajuddin Haqqani</span> Afghan Taliban warlord

Sirajuddin Haqqani is an Afghan warlord who is the first deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acting interior minister. He has been a deputy leader of the Taliban since 2015, and was additionally appointed to his ministerial role after the Taliban's victory over Western-backed forces in the 2001–2021 war. He has led the Haqqani network, a semi-autonomous paramilitary arm of the Taliban, since inheriting it from his father in 2018, and has primarily had military responsibilities within the Taliban.

This article deals with activities of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency related to transnational crime, including the illicit drug trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in Afghanistan</span>

Crime in Afghanistan is present in various forms, and includes the following: corruption, contract killings or assassinations, bombings, kidnapping, drug trafficking, money laundering, black marketeering, and ordinary crimes such as theft and assault.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crime in the United Arab Emirates</span> Overview of crime in the United Arab Emirates

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Louise Isobel Shelley is a University professor and Omer L. and Nancy Hirst Endowed Chair at the Schar School of Policy and International Affairs at George Mason University in Virginia. She is also founder and executive director of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inter-Services Intelligence activities in Afghanistan</span>

The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) intelligence agency of Pakistan has been accused of being heavily involved in covertly running military intelligence programs in Afghanistan since before the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. The first ISI operation in Afghanistan took place in 1975. It was in "retaliation to Republic of Afghanistan's proxy war and support to the militants against Pakistan". Before 1975, ISI did not conduct any operation in Afghanistan and it was only after decade of Republic of Afghanistan's proxy war against Pakistan, support to militants and armed incursion in 1960 and 1961 in Bajaur that Pakistan was forced to retaliate. Later on, in the 1980s, the ISI in Operation Cyclone systematically coordinated the distribution of arms and financial means provided by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to factions of the Afghan mujahideen such as the Hezb-e Islami (HeI) of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and the forces of Ahmad Shah Massoud whose forces would later be known as the Northern Alliance. After the Soviet retreat, the different Mujahideen factions turned on each other and were unable to come to a power sharing deal which resulted in a civil war. The United States, along with the ISI and the Pakistani government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto became the primary source of support for Hekmatyar in his 1992–1994 bombardment campaign against the Islamic State of Afghanistan and the capital Kabul.

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East African drug trade refers to the sale and trafficking of illegal drugs that take place in East African countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, and Ethiopia. The most prevalent types of drugs traded in East Africa are heroin, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, and khat, all of which are strictly prohibited in East African countries.

References

  1. ↑ "What to do?". The Economist. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  2. ↑ Ghosh, Bobby (2009-07-17). "Fighting the New Narcoterrorism Syndicates". Time. ISSN   0040-781X . Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  3. ↑ "Gretchen Peters". UK. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  4. ↑ Denver, University of. "Sié Fellows Alumni | University of Denver". www.du.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  5. ↑ Soksreinith, Ten. "Cambodia Daily Alumni Hope Cambodians Continue Free Press Tradition". VOA. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  6. ↑ "Heroin, The Taliban And The 'Seeds Of Terror'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  7. ↑ "NOMINEES FOR THE 29th ANNUAL NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY® AWARDS ANNOUNCED BY THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES | The Emmy Awards - The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences". emmyonline.com. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  8. ↑ "What to do?". The Economist. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  9. ↑ "Protecting Rhinos by Targeting Poachers | George Mason". www2.gmu.edu. Retrieved 2018-04-09.
  10. ↑ "Chair's update: Task Force on Charting Illicit Trade" (PDF). www.OECD.org. November 2013. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  11. ↑ McConnell, Tristan (2017-08-19). "'They're like the mafia': the super gangs behind Africa's poaching crisis". the Guardian. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  12. ↑ Howell, Roy. "Analyzing the Links between Transnational Organized Crime & Ivory Trafficking". www.internationalconservation.org. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  13. ↑ Swain, The Sunday Times review by Jon (2009-09-27). "Seeds of Terror: How Heroin Is Bankrolling the Taliban and Al Qaeda by Gretchen Peters". The Sunday Times. ISSN   0956-1382 . Retrieved 2018-04-06.
  14. ↑ "Gretchen Peters". NPR.org. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  15. ↑ "Taliban: Holy Warriors Or "The Sopranos"?" . Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  16. ↑ "Gretchen Peters - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart | Comedy Central". Comedy Central. 9 June 2009. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  17. ↑ "Crime and Insurgency – Combating Terrorism Center at West Point". Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. 2010-10-14. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  18. ↑ Peters, Gretchen (September 2017). "The Curse of the Shiny Object, How Humans Fight Problems Where They Are Visible, and Why We Need to See Beyond" (PDF). Prism. 7 (1): 75. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  19. ↑ Peters, Gretchen (July 2012). "Haqqani Network Financing:The Evolution of an Industry" (PDF). Harmony Project: 77. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  20. ↑ Peters, Gretchen; Juan, Zarate. "How financial power can be used to save iconic species from extinction". Business Insider. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  21. ↑ Peters, Gretchen (October 15, 2010). "Crime and Insurgency" (PDF). Harmony Project: 107. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  22. ↑ Peters, Gretchen (July 1, 2009). "Incorporating Law Enforcement Interrogation Techniques on the Battlefield" (PDF). CTC Sentinel. 2 (4). Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  23. ↑ Peters, Gretchen (2016). Traffickers and Truckers: Illicit Afghan and Pakistani Power Structures with a Shadowy but Influential Role (PDF). Fort Lesley J. McNair: Center for Complex Operations. p. 125. ISBN   978-0-9861865-7-8 . Retrieved 9 April 2018.
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