The Crime-Terror Nexus from Below: Criminal and Extremist Practices, Networks and Narratives in Deprived Neighbourhoods of Tripoli
Professor Caroline Rooney (University of Kent)
Over the past eight years, Tripoli has experienced a significant rise in violence. The progressive merger of criminal and terrorist groups has led to an increase in Transnational Organised Crime. In particular, this has disproportionately affected the neighbourhoods of Qobbe, Bab al-Tebbaneh and Mankoubin. Preliminary research, based on figures from the Lebanese Interior Ministry, shows that two-thirds of Tripolitans arrested for terrorism-related charges in 2016-17 were from one of these three districts.
Dr Lefèvre's three-year project will focus on Transnational Organised Crime in Lebanon’s second-largest city as a case study. By exploring the factors and processes behind this issue in marginalised communities, the research aims to:
- Improve our understanding of Transnational Organised Crime
- Raise awareness of the links between Transnational Organised Crime and extremism, and its increasing entwinement in Tripolitan neighbourhoods
- Assess the impact of gangsterism beyond Tripoli.