Pick up a newspaper anywhere, any day, and you will find reports of illegal migrants, drug busts, smuggled weapons, and laundered money or counterfeit goods. Illicit trades are booming and so are the traffickers’ revenues—and their political influence. Hamstrung bureaucracies in rich and poor countries alike are losing the battles against these agile, well-financed, politically powerful, and ever-shifting networks of determined individuals. Religious and political zeal drive terrorists, but it turns out that simple profit is no less a motivator for political upheaval and international instability. Black-market networks are stealthily transforming global politics and economics.

Filled with fast-paced, vivid examples that are as real as they are surprising, Illicit shows how we got to this dangerous point—and stresses the interconnections between these illegal enterprises, how they endlessly recombine to breed new lines of business, distort the economy of entire countries and industries, enable terrorists and even take over governments. From pirated movies to weapons of mass destruction, from human organs to endangered species, drugs or stolen art, Illicit reveals the inner workings of these amazingly efficient international organizations and shows why it is so hard—and so necessary—to contain them.

Illicit offers a fresh, ingenious and compelling vision of this untold story of globalization. It provides a powerful new lens with which to assess how today’s world really works and where it may be headed. Illicit will surely ignite urgent debate at the highest levels—and change the way you think about the world.

"In this sweeping and informative work, Foreign Policy editor Nam demystifies the global trade in illegal goods and services and, in the process, presents an original portrait of globalization that skillfully eschews the utopian doggerel that often characterizes such accounts. Nam provides a detailed tour of the major globalized criminal activities — drug production and distribution, illegal arms dealing, human trafficking, counterfeiting, money laundering and so on — and introduces a host of criminal networks that profit from them. The book is regrettably devoid of the kind of firsthand reporting from the field that would have made the subject matter really jump off the page. Yet Nam creates a picture of illicit trade which demonstrates that, far from taking place in a shadowy underworld, such activity is inextricably linked to legitimate commerce and directly affects all of us. In Nam's view, globalization's 'diffusion of power to individuals and groups' and away from sovereign states has created a 'smuggler's nirvana,' in which the lines between legitimate and illegitimate economic activity are blurred and criminal networks possess an unprecedented degree of political influence. Making matters worse, the widening gap between global haves and have-nots — what Nam calls 'geopolitical bright spots and black holes' — has increased the incentive for individuals and groups on both sides of the divide to participate in illicit activities. The remedy? In addition to offering a bevy of specific policy ideas, Nam urges readers to move away from simplistic moral denunciations and to focus, instead, on reducing the demand for criminals' goods and services and on weakening the incentives for ordinary people to become involved in their enterprises. (On sale Oct. 18)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

From pirated movies to weapons of mass destruction, from human organs to endangered species, drugs, or stolen art, "Illicit" reveals the inner workings of these amazingly efficient international organizations and shows why it is so hard--and so necessary--to contain them.

Moisés Naím is the editor of the influential magazine Foreign Policy, published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Under his leadership, Foreign Policy has gained wide recognition for its cutting-edge articles, winning the 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence. Naím holds an M.S. and a Ph.D. from MIT and was the Minister of Industry and Trade in Venezuela, as well as an Executive Director of the World Bank. His columns are regularly carried by some of the world’s leading publications, such as The Financial Times, Newsweek, El País, and Corriere della Sera.