Black spots, actors, and governance

As we discover more about black spots and the linkages among them, we begin to discern that the actors governing these locations have different motivations and goals driving their actions. Such information provides us with hints about where to look for more black spots as well as the directions the flows linking the black spots might take. Consider that the Uighurs in Kashgar, China; the PKK in the Hakkâri-Van provinces in Turkey; and the Tuareg in the Tri-border Area of Algeria/Mali/Niger have different motivations for the black spots that they choose than do al-Shabaab in Kismayo, Somalia; the Pakistani Taliban in the FATA Territory; or the Sinai Province jihadists and, in turn, than do the illegal miners in the Shinkolobwe Mine in the DRC; the drug lords in Manaus, Brazil; or the Camorra crime families in the Scampia/Secondigliano neighborhoods in Naples. The Uighurs, PKK, and Tuareg lay claim to a particular territory and are engaged in a dispute with a legitimate government over the rights to that territory. Al-Shabaab, the Pakistani Taliban, and the Sinai Province jihadists use their geographic bases of operations as the places from which to launch terrorist attacks targeted at inducing fear and increasing their own power in the area. The illegal miners, drug lords, and Camorra crime families are intent on making money and controlling the resources in a region that facilitates that cause. In this chapter, we examine what the black spots are like where we find each of these types of organizations separately and then we compare and contrast them. We explore the kinds of black spots each type of organization seeks, the activities which it launches from its black spots, interactions with law enforcement, and the major focus of the organizations’ activities in their black spots.