War Making and State Making as Organized Crime

Introduction to the Concept of Organized Crime

• Protection Rackets:

  • Described as organized crime at its smoothest.

  • War making and state making viewed as protection rackets with added legitimacy.

• Legitimacy:

  • Differentiation from common criminality; not branding all state actors as murderers or thieves.

• Analogy Usage:

  • Value of the analogy emphasized based on European historical experiences in the last few centuries.

Major Themes

• War Makers and State Makers:

  • Viewed as coercive and self-seeking entrepreneurs.

  • Contrasts with concepts of social contracts, open markets, and normative society influences on governance.

• Contemporary Context:

  • Reflections on the destructive nature of modern warfare, the supply of arms, and military rule variables in poorer nations.

  • Inquiry into whether understanding past European states can inform present dynamics in the Third World.

Historical Context

• European State Formation:

  • Coercive exploitation critical in creating European states.

  • Resistance from the populace forced rulers to concede protective measures.

Theory Development

• Aim to discuss the relationship and interdependence between war making and state making.

• Argument promoted that war making leads to the development of states,

  • Continuum of Violence: Banditry, piracy, organized crime, policing, and warfare viewed as interconnected activities.

Protection and Economic Aspects

• Double-Edged Nature of Protection:

  • Understanding differing connotations of protection in favor of both comfort and intimidation.

  • Contrast between local protectors versus racketeers; the dynamics of their roles based on threat assessment.

• Government Claims:

  • Governments argue to provide protection against local and external violence at minimal costs.

  • Suggested that many governments simulate or enhance threats to justify their protective claims, resembling racketeering behavior.

Authority and Violence Monopolization

• Monopoly of Violence:

  • Defined as the unique capability of governments to control concentrated means of violence.

  • Stinchcombe's take on legitimacy as based on authority recognition rather than ethical principles.

• Political Observations:

  • Historical recognition that governments monopolize violence, impacting social norms and behaviors.

  • Forces structuring government authority focus on the maintenance of control and stability.

Growth Mechanics of Statehood

• Influences on State Structures:

  • Military and economic interactions shaping European state growth.

  • Transition of power dynamics leading states to engage with various societal classes, securing resources through taxation and protection.

• Interactions of War Making and State Establishment:

  • Governances developed through war, extraction of resources, and maintenance of protective capabilities all reinforce state structures.

  • Problems encountered in managing internal and external threats through different government complicacies.

Historical Evidence and Comparisons

• Military and State Evolution:

  • The historical competition seen in naval warfare led to spatial territory expansion and development of national states.

• Criteria for State Formation:

  • Growth of protective measures often followed with substantial military and bureaucratic costs.

  • Competition driven both by internal rivals and external state struggles shaped the modern nation-state.

International Relations and Warfare

• Underlying Logic of War:

  • War as a consistent means of establishing and sustaining territorial control in the international system.

  • Critical understanding that local domination efforts reflect broader global power dynamics.

Conclusion: Implications for the Modern State

• Comparison with Modern Organized Crime:

  • Current inequalities in military organization and internal governance signaling a shift towards criminal-like state behavior.

  • Insightful understanding of the functional similarities between national states and organized crime in contemporary contexts, emphasizing underlying violence dynamics.

References

1. Tilly, Charles.

2. Stinchcombe, Arthur L.

3. Braudel, Fernand.

4. Lane, Frederic C.

5. Modelski, George.

6. Kiernan, V. G.

7. Bean, Richard.

8. North, Douglass C., and Robert Paul Thomas.

9. Hamilton, Earl J.

Notes are comprehensively extracted from a detailed discussion by Charles Tilly on the relation between organized crime and the processes of war making and state making from historical contexts.