Dark Networks In A Bright Network World

Abstract

Bright networks spend billions of dollars each year trying to eliminate dark networks, and yet they still persist to be a threat to regional stability, especially in regions that have weak states. The purpose of this research paper is to determine what bright network behaviors are prolonging the lifetime of dark networks, to determine if these behaviors are of a direct or indirect nature, and figuring out the reasons why legitimate actors would behave in a way that is compromising to their own goals. This purpose will be analyzed through a set of hypotheses, which will then be tested on two case studies. The common theme among all my hypotheses is that there are underlying motivations for bright networks to sponsor dark networks and these are further explored in the case studies. Overall, this paper explores the complexities of dark networks and the struggles of bright networks to eliminate these organizations. This paper looks to further develop the relationship between bright and dark networks and identify where the overlap might be perpetuating, rather than decreasing, dark network activities. Overall, dark networks feed off of corruption, chaos, and instability; therefore states with these issues are prone to dark network insurgencies.