It isconvenientto think that bad guys are drumming up money for their activities far away and in shady back alleys, but the violent non-state actors (VNSAs) of the world arehiding in plain sight. They peddleknockoff sneakers, pass the hat at ethnic festivals, takea cut of untaxed booze sales,swindlesenior citizens with bogus phone calls about needing bail in Mexico,and run money through mainstream banksto buyup rental properties (just to name a few). On a grand scale, their behavior erodes rule of law, creates moral injuries from corruption,and emboldens bad actors to steal and back violent tactics with impunity. Blood Moneyanalyzesthe ways in which VNSAs find money for their operations and sustainment, from controlling a valuable commodity to harnessing the grievances of a networked diaspora, andit looks atthe channels through which they can flip the positives of globalization into flat, fast, andfrictionlessmovement of people, funds,and materials needed to terrorize and coerce their opponents.AuthorMargaret Sankey highlightsthe mundane and everyday nature of these tactics, occurring under our noses online, in legitimate marketplaces,and with the aegis of intelligence services and national governments. While reforms attempt to curtail these options, their utility andefficacyas tools of financehave provedinadequateforsovereignstates. VNSAs'defiance of rulesand their capable adaptation and innovationmake them extremely difficult to pin down or prosecute. Manysecurity publications stress legislation and enforcement or frame illicit finance as a military or police problem. WithBlood Money,Sankey pointsoutthemanyways VNSAs evade lawenforcement,andsheoffers options for involving consumers and activists in exercising agency and choicesin how they apply their money and where it goes.Blood Moneyalsoprovidescontext for whole-of-government approaches to attacking underlying supports for illicit financing channels.How these groups finance themselves is key to understanding how they function and what actions might be taken toderail their plans or dismantle their structure.
