This research project examines how conflict-affected borderlands, like those between Myanmar and China, are intricately connected to development in metropolitan centres. It challenges the idea that these areas are marginalised due to a lack of integration. The project aims to inform strategies for addressing borderland economies and transnational crime.

The harms on economies and societies are significant when proceeds of crime and corruption are moved unimpeded through the global financial and trade systems. As policymakers are looking to identify ways to respond better to illicit financial flows (IFFs), this research project seeks to better understand what enables IFFs, if there is political will to address IFFs and what interventions have been successful in addressing IFFs as part of a politically sensitive approach. The overarching conclusion of the initial research was that the line between business, politics and crime has never been more blurred. The research proposes a framework, the so-called ‘IFFs pyramid’, to explain the three dominant means by which IFFs are enabled, moved and held: financial flows, trade flows and informal flows. In its second phase, the research project is testing the use and applicability of this framework in East and Southern Africa and the Mekong region. 

This two-phase research project starts by examining the nexus between parastatal armed groups (PAGs), illicit economies and organised crime, with a particular focus on the borderlands of Afghanistan, Myanmar and Colombia. In two research papers, this first phase has explored the relationship between coercive brokers, public authorities and frontier governance, how paramilitaries become involved in illicit economies and organised crime, the relationship between paramilitaries, organised crime and politics, and what policy combinations can address coercive brokerage in conflict-affected borderlands. The second phase has brought together policymakers to explore new approaches to addressing the challenges posed by paramilitaries. Case studies highlighting key lessons from interventions in Colombia, Myanmar and Northern Ireland will be produced along with two further research papers.