I was invited to write a chapter for Warlords Inc. an edited volume that pulls back the curtain on the secretive world of drug cartels and violent insurgencies, revealing their inner workings and implications for a world driven by unrelenting change and growing political uncertainty.

This collection of essays show how, as the complexities of modern geopolitical pressures mount, the world’s elaborate but fragile political systems are becoming increasingly vulnerable to breakdown and deliberate disruption.

My chapter, “From Patronage Politics to Predatory States: crime and governance in Africa”  looks at how Africa’s style of governance has encouraged corruption, a convergence with criminal interests, illicit resource diversion and a subsequent disenfranchisement of the ordinary citizen.  This paradigm, where governance is rarely in the interests of the people has in turn resulted in a growth of insurgent, and sometimes terrorist movements that have increased insecurity the world over.

You can buy the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Warlords-Inc-Markets-Warlord-Entrepreneur/dp/1583949011 or download a PDF of my chapter: Reitano – Patronage politics and predatory states – April 2015.