The Coming Crime Wars

Conflict today is not between warring states. Roughly half of today's wars involve over 10 competing blocs, with a handful including hundreds of armed groups vying to establish their dominion. But while this mix of "criminality, extremism, and insurrection is sowing havoc" throughout the world, as Robert Muggah and John Sullivan explain in Foreign Policy, the world has not yet come up with a common lexicon or legal framework to deal with them. 

An Axis of Trouble in Latin America

Mexico and Brazil are illustrative cases. In Mexico, several states are paralyzed by extreme and widespread organized violence, due to the government's retreat from crime-ridden areas, and the rise of narco-cities, where drug cartels have established political control and a dominance over the economy. In Brazil, several cities – especially in low-income areas – are marred by violence due to competing drug trafficking armies.

Despite their parallels, there is not any agreement on how to deal with, or even on how to define these kinds of situations. 

How To Understand War Today

"Crime wars are not going away, which is why the United Nations, its member states, and the international humanitarian community should clarify whether high-intensity crime is a purely domestic problem to be dealt with by policing and criminal justice", the authors explain. Or whether it is a matter of criminal insurgency, to be dealt with by way of armed interventions which must adhere to the protections contained in international humanitarian law.

This breed of crime conflicts – involving cartels, gangs, militia, and other groups – challenges the very definition of war. And as the problem proliferates around the globe, a more comprehensive approach is needed. "If the world fails to see crime wars as wars, the humanitarian and political cost of them will only rise."