International Journal on Criminology ble networks , informal Maghrebian or Senegalese notaries , mafia .” 20
The Main Traffic Routes of the “ Elusive Globalization ,” from Asia , the Middle East , and the Maghreb , to Europe
Between these routes there are of course overlaps — but not “ wars .” There is money to be made for everyone , and each ethnic entity trafficking along these routes knows how to defend itself , using bodyguards , “ escorts ,” etc .:
• Former Soviet Republics of Central Asia ( the “ Stans ”)— Poland — Germany
• Caucasus — Georgia — Ukraine — Austria — Switzerland
• South Asia — UAE — Lebanon — Greece — Northern Italy — France
• Afghanistan — Georgia — Turkey — Southern Italy — Spain
• Afghanistan — Turkey — Greece — Southern Italy — France — Spain
• Lebanon — South Mediterranean — Maghreb — Spain
Globalization from below ” is first and foremost the abolition of borders for the “ ants ” of illicit transnational trade . Now this erasing of the border is everything but an insignificant phenomenon . For since the domination of nation-states over the earth and still today , over most of the planet , the limit of the geographical or geopolitical world is the border , a mark of sovereignty for the state as much as a vulnerable zone .
Whether intellectual or physical , the border is crucial for defense , security , and intelligence . Today , borders are increasingly porous and are being abused : the deterritorialization of economic , political , and cultural relations ; the emergence of new international entities that bypass or span the nation-state ; and the global divergence of economic , societal , and cultural spheres from the state . And in addition today , “ globalization from below ,” is a phenomenon that is , if not new , at least unknown and that we must explain below .
First , this reminder : for two millennia , space and time have formed the two strategic axes of humanity . But the unitary formula “ space-time ” conceals tormented relationships . For over the centuries , either time or space has dominated strategic thinking . From the nineteenth century to the present day , space has dominated the thinking of Europeans , concerning their great colonial empires .
Here , as Robert Kaplan points out in The Revenge of Geography , geopolitics even expresses human destiny . For , he says , the survival of a people goes beyond simple military jousts : climate , harvests , and rainfall determine human and political choices . Of course , the great transcontinental flows of goods , services , and hu-
20 “ Alain Tarrius : Transmigrants are Nomads , Actors of a Globalization from Below ,” Libération , September 1 , 2015 .
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