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Small Wars Journal–El Centro Top 10 Research Articles for 2022

Sun, 01/01/2023 - 6:43pm

Small Wars Journal–El Centro Top 10 Research Articles for 2022

These research articles represent the best of SWJ–El Centro for 2022 as selected by the SWJ–El Centro Senior Fellows. (This list excludes research notes.) All SWJ–El Centro content is available at https://smallwarsjournal.com/elcentro.

  1. Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera and Jorge A. Pérez González, “Field Report: Security in Tamaulipas Today: Simulated Peace,” Small Wars Journal, 3 January 2022,  https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/field-report-security-tamaulipas-today-simulated-peace.
Tamaulipas Police

Tamaulipas State Police patrol cars

Photo courtesy of Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera and Jorge A. Pérez González

  1. Rafael Velázquez Flores, “Security Studies and Foreign Policy Analysis: The academic legacy of Jorge Chabat,” Small Wars Journal, 22 November 2022, https://smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/security-studies-and-foreign-policy-analysis-academic-legacy-jorge-chabat.
  2. Nilda M. Garcia, “The Convergence of Illicit Networks on Social Media: the Human Smuggling-Drug Trafficking Nexus,” Small Wars Journal, 28 February 2022, https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/convergence-illicit-networks-social-media-human-smuggling-drug-trafficking-nexus.
  3. Francisco Sollano Jr, “A social network analysis of Genaro García Luna and his alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel,” Small Wars Journal, 11 January 2022, https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/social-network-analysis-genaro-garcia-luna-and-his-alleged-ties-sinaloa-cartel.
  4. Evan Ellis, “Venezuela: Understanding Political, External, and Criminal Actors in an Authoritarian State,” Small Wars Journal, 14 January 2022, https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/venezuela-understanding-political-external-and-criminal-actors-authoritarian-state.

VZ Protests

Protests against theMaduro Government

CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) 

  1. Pablo A. Baisotti, “Drugs, Drug Trafficking, and Pandemic in Argentina,” Small Wars Journal,24 March 2022, https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/drugs-drug-trafficking-and-pandemic-argentina.
  2. Jonathan D. Rosen, “Understanding Bukele’s Gang Crack Down in El Salvador,” Small Wars Journal, 1 November 2022,  https://smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/understanding-bukeles-gang-crack-down-el-salvador.
Buckle protest

Entrega de vehículos a PNC (Policía Nacional Civil)

Source: Presidencia de la República de El Salvador. CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) 

  1. Isaac Poritzky, Nathan P. Jones, and John P. Sullivan, “Transnational Cartels and Prison/Jail Gangs: A Social Network Analysis of Mexican Mafia (Eme) and La Familia Michoacana Conspiracy Cases,” Small Wars Journal, 24 October 2022, https://smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/transnational-cartels-and-prisonjail-gangs-social-network-analysis-mexican-mafia-eme-and.
  2. Marco Leofrigio, “The Mexican National Guard: a solution to ensure security or a strong escalation in the process of militarization?” Small Wars Journal, 9 October 2022, https://smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/mexican-national-guard-solution-ensure-security-or-strong-escalation-process.
  3. Daniel Weisz Argomedo, “Calling to End the Killing of the Clergy: Information Operations of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación,” Small Wars Journal, 20 August 2022, https://smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/calling-end-killing-clergy-information-operations-cartel-de-jalisco-nueva-generacion.

The SWJ–El Centro Senior Fellows thank all of our contributors and peer reviewers for their support in contributing to the literature needed to build a comprehensive understanding of crime wars, criminal insurgency, criminal governance, corruption, conflict, and state transition. We look forward to next year’s articles.

A Social Network Analysis of Mexico’s Dark Network Alliance Structure

Wed, 12/07/2022 - 5:23pm

A Small Wars Journal−El Centro team just published a research article, "A Social Network Analysis of Mexico’s Dark Network Alliance Structure" at the Journal of Strategic Security. The team included SWJ−El Centro Senior Fellows Nathan P. Jones and John P. Sullivan, along with Fellow Irina A. Chindea, and Associate Daniel Weisz Agromedo. The article looks at the organizational structures of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) and its rival Sinaloa Cartel. 

Main Network

Network Main Component with Community Detection (Figure 10 ion the text. Authors' elaboration based on UCINEt analysis of Lantia Consltres data used with permission). 

Abstract: "A Social Network Analysis of Mexico’s Dark Network Alliance Structure" assesses Mexico’s organized crime alliance and subgroup network structures. Through social network analysis (SNA) of data from Lantia Consultores, a consulting firm in Mexico that specializes in the analysis of public policies, it demonstrates differential alliance structures within Mexico’s bipolar illicit network system. The Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación’s (CJNG) alliance structure is top-down and hierarchical, while the Sinaloa Cartel is denser, particularly in the broader Tierra Caliente region. Additionally, our analysis found a sparse overall network with many isolates (groups with no relations to other groups) and disconnected components. Further, we identified organized crime networks that might fill future power vacuums based on their network positions, following state or rival high-value targeting of major cartels. The implications of these findings are discussed, and policy recommendations are provided.

A previous, non-refereed version of this manuscript was published as part of a working paper series by Rice University's Baker Institute. The authors have undertaken a significant revision to allow for peer review to qualify for publication in the Journal of Strategic Security. The Baker Institute supports the publication of this revised manuscript without any restrictions. The previous version may be read on the Baker Institute website: https://doi.org/10.25613/KMGB-NC83.

Source: Nathan P. Jones, Irina A. Chindea, Daniel Weisz Agromedo, and John P. Sullivan, "A Social Network Analysis of Mexico’s Dark Network Alliance Structure." Journal of Strategic Security. Vol. 15, no. 4, December 2022. 

Understanding Bukele’s Gang Crack Down in El Salvador

Tue, 11/01/2022 - 11:01pm
This paper reviews recent gang crackdowns by Salvadoran President Nayib Buckle. El Salvador is home to some of the most powerful gangs in the Western Hemisphere: Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13, the 18th Street Southerners, and the 18th Street Revolutionaries. These gangs compete for control of territory and are present in more than 90 percent of the municipalities in El Salvador.

About the Author(s)

Transnational Cartels and Prison/Jail Gangs: A Social Network Analysis of Mexican Mafia (Eme) and La Familia Michoacana Conspiracy Cases

Mon, 10/24/2022 - 6:28pm
This article is a mixed methods research study, using social network analysis (SNA), on the Mexican Mafia (La Eme) and La Familia Michoacana (La Familia or LFM), with a focus on their alliance, dubbed “The Project.” Using two indictments of the Mexican Mafia that included an attempt to establish a permanent relationship with the Mexican La Familia drug cartel.

About the Author(s)

Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 51: Milícias (Militias) Continue to Surpass Gangues (Gangs) in Dominating Criminal Territory in Rio de Janeiro

Tue, 09/27/2022 - 9:03pm
Areas controlled by criminal armed groups (CAGs) in Rio de Janeiro grew by 131% over the past 16 years according to a new study released jointly by the Instituto Fogo Cruzado (Cross-Fire Institute), Grupo de Estudos dos Novos Ilegalismos (Study Group for New Illegalisms) at Universidade Federal Fluminense (Fluminense Federal University) (GENI/UFF) on 13 September 2022. Militias were the fastest growing group, expanding rapidly in suburbs while narcotrafficking gangs retained control of favelas.

About the Author(s)

Small Wars Journal–El Centro Fellow Dr. Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera Promoted to Full Professor

Thu, 08/25/2022 - 5:52pm

Small Wars Journal–El Centro Fellow Dr. Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera Promoted to Full Professor

Small Wars Journal–El Centro is proud to announce that SWJ–El Centro Fellow Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera has been promoted to the rank of full professor at George Mason University’s Schar School of Public Policy and Government.

Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera

Professor Correa-Cabrera has had a prolific career including publishing the acclaimed Los Zetas Inc.: Criminal Corporations, Energy, and Civil War in Mexico with the University of Texas Press in 2017. The book applies corporate models to Mexican drug trafficking organizations. Over her career she has served as president of the Association of Borderlands Studies and co-edits Oxford University Press’s International Studies Perspectives. She became a Small Wars Journal–El Centro Fellow in 2021.

Some of her recent publications include: “Dismantling Migrant Smuggling Networks in the Americas,” Policy Paper (Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, June 2022) and “The End of the Mérida Initiative?” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. Vol.  23, no. 1 (2022): pp, 59–64.

We have been honored to have her write and work with us and wish her the best of luck in the future. Congratulations again on this well-deserved promotion!

Calling to End the Killing of the Clergy: Information Operations of the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación

Sat, 08/20/2022 - 6:20pm
The assassination of two Jesuit priests in the state of Chihuahua led to calls by the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) to protect priests, teachers, and doctors. I argue that this video is simply another form of information operations utilized to portray the cartel in a favorable light. Information operations are incredibly diverse within Mexico’s organized crime system and can include: digital campaigns to make specific cartels look better, narcocorridos (narco-ballads) to construct mythological personas for cartel members, extreme forms of violence like beheadings to communicate to rivals and the local population, food pantries to win over the local population, and even dispute resolution services to become de facto governors, etc.

About the Author(s)

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