Russia's Global Alliance with Drug Cartels & Islamic Terrorists - Kyiv Post

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Did you know that Russia, drug cartels in Latin America, and Hezbollah from the Middle East are business partners?

Sanctioned state actors (such as Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela) have few options with whom they can do business, something that they have in common with illegal non-state actors (be it drug cartels, Islamist terrorists, and other radical ideological terrorists), which has allowed for a growing global alliance among rogue states and others who share their vision of undermining the West and breaking-up the post-World War II world order which they so despise.

Our guest, Emanuele Ottolenghi, argues that through a lack of firm action and resolve, the US has allowed these groups to become ever more active internationally and at its very doorstep. The rise of illegal immigration and the worsening drug wars in Mexico are increasingly bleeding across the border and are killing Americans.

The foremost expert on this global and nefarious confederation is Dr. Ottolenghi who joined Kyiv Post for this important interview. According to Dr. Ottolenghi's biography at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies where he is a Senior Scholar, "Dr. Emanuele Ottolenghi is a senior fellow at FDD and an expert at FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power (CEFP) focused on Hezbollah’s Latin America illicit threat networks and Iran’s history of sanctions evasion. His research has examined Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including its links to the country’s energy sector and procurement networks. His areas of expertise also include the EU’s Middle East policymaking, transatlantic relations, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and Israel’s domestic politics. Prior to joining FDD, Emanuele headed the Transatlantic Institute in Brussels and taught Israel Studies at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University."

Chapters:
00:00 INTRO
00:16 Drug cartels, the Russian Federation, and Islamic terrorist groups
05:14 What are the global cocaine price differences and expansion areas for drug cartels?
10:46 Why does Russia have such close relations with Hamas?
13:40 What's the role of China?
17:24 What should American or European foreign policy look like?