AbstractsComputer Science

Globalization has led to a shift in the perceived threat to security from states to transborder issues such as financial collapse, global warming, pandemics and threats from a variety of non-state actors. As a result of the terrorist attacks on New York, Bali, Madrid, London and Mumbai; international terrorism has become one of the most highly visible of these new threats. One mechanism of global governance employed to combat this threat is the use of transgovernmental networks comprised of government officials from various nations, forming both formal and informal global networks that reach out to their foreign counterparts. These networks are the foundation of a strategy of confronting "networks of terror with networks against terror." This research seeks to understand how these networks operate to achieve their mission. The literature relating to transgovernmental networks and transnational advocacy networks (TANs) suggests that these two network types share numerous characteristics. These similarities led to the development of the hypothesis that transgovernmental networks operate to accomplish their missions in much the same way as TANs operate. To test this hypothesis, a single case study design was utilized to examine how one agency, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), utilizes its officers assigned to foreign jurisdictions as part of a transgovernmental network to combat terrorist travel. The research revealed that these officers are not only part of a transgovernmental network that operates to prevent terrorist travel, as well as other transnational crimes, in much the same way as TANs, but also mirrors the structure of the terrorist networks they are charged with combating. Furthermore, a foundation has been laid for continued investigative research of transgovernmental networks; while providing a potential blue print for a strategy of combating threats to global security with networks of government officials that are as fluid and effective as the groups that are posing these threats.