Examine the use of an illicit transnational activity to further a national security goal.

In 1999, two officers in the Chinese Army, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, published a treatise that would heavily influence Chinese military planning for the following decades. The book was called Unrestricted Warfare. Its central theses were these:

• Future wars would be fought across the entire spectrum of human affairs, down to the individual level.
• The United States would be China’s principal adversary in any future conflict.
• Alternative methods of “fighting,” such as international law, economic warfare, disruption, trade conflict, currency manipulation, cyber war, terrorism, and population movements, could be just as effective as traditional engagements with military weaponry.
• American military planners take too narrow a view of the possibilities of future conflicts. They place too much emphasis on hardware and technology, and not enough on social, moral, political, and economic factors.

Unrestricted wars are currently being orchestrated by at least four governments, (Russia, Iran, China and North Korea) all of which are clearly aimed at the US and allies on a global level. These global wars bring together states, terrorists, insurgents, bankers, criminals, judiciary, law enforcement, and security officials in many countries that target US interests, on many fronts not all of which actually involve the direct use of violence.

These forms of subversion and of unrestricted war could involve drug running, money laundering, bribery and corruption of high-placed officials, facilitating global refugee crises, use of banks to evade US sanctions, support for revolution, insurgency, terrorism, and civil war.

This semester we have examined many types of transnational activities. For this assignment you will examine the use of an illicit transnational activity to further a national security goal.

Answer these questions:

• Part 1: This question is in direct response to number 4 above. I want you to be predictive and describe a scenario in the not so distant future where one of the nations above (China, Russia, North Korea, Iran) uses an illicit activity to influence the US. Use your imagination and describe the event, purpose and goal of your illicit activity. It should be significant enough that a foreign nation would use it to advance a national goal. The illicit activity should be one we discussed in class. (This should be no less than 1 page). Have fun with this portion. You can describe the event from any interesting perspective.
• Part 2: Describe what systems are currently in place to deal with the scenario in Part 1 describe the strengths and weakness of those systems and agencies. (1-2 pages)
• Part 3: Describe what the US needs to change to address the illicit activity you described in Part 1 (1-2 Pages)

Total pages: no less than 4 and no more than 6

Sources: No less than 6 academic sources

Paper Structure Requirements:

• Typewritten in 12 point Times New Roman font
• Double spaced
• 1inch margins on top, bottom, and both sides
• Include a title page: Name of Paper, Your Name, Professor, Class
• Include a reference page
• Done in the citation style of your choice (footnotes or parenthetical; be consistent)
• Include page numbers
• Writing should be clear and organized, with a logical flow from one topic to the next.
• Sentence structure should follow standard rules of grammar and punctuation.
• Each paragraph should have a topic sentence, a body, and a conclusion.
• Transitions between paragraphs should be fluid.
• Use spell checker to help avoid spelling errors; however, this is not a substitute for careful proofreading.
• Write in “active voice,” whenever possible.
• Use past and present tense, where appropriate (Use past tense when reporting what you did, “I interviewed the participants…” and discussing your results, “The analysis of the data showed…” Use present tense when stating well established facts, “The Earth revolves around the sun.”).
• Cite, Cite and Cite—Opinions without support remain opinions and hold little weight. Opinion with support become assessment.

I want you to wow me with your scenarios; have fun with them. The other area that I want you to focus on is your recommendation. I want to read a genuine, original recommendation. I don’t want to read another authors recommendation. You can enhance another scholar’s assessment but it must be to such an extent that your solution is clearly unique. Your recommendation will not be solely your opinion but will need to be supported by sources. I also do not want to read an unrealistic or weak solution; “People should stop using drugs and the war on drugs will be over” or “The government should spend more money on this issue”. That is why the paper includes a section on change. You must offer a thoughtful and realistic plan regarding how to address this issue.