SACM - United Kingdom
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://drepo.sdl.edu.sa/handle/20.500.14154/9667
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Item Restricted State-Sponsored Drug Trafficking in the Middle East: Media Exaggeration or Genu ine International Security Threat?(Saudi Digital Library, 2024-12-16) ALghamdi, Basem; Bewley-Taylor, DavidIn the shadows of conflict and economic collapse, a new form of power has emerged in the Middle East: the Captagon trade. This dissertation explores the intersection of state-sponsored drug trafficking, media narratives, and international security, focusing on how synthetic amphetamines like Captagon have become both a survival strategy and geopolitical weapon for regimes and militant groups. With Syria as the epicenter and Hezbollah as a key actor, this illicit economy generates billions in revenue while destabilizing neighboring countries such as Saudi Arabia. Through a constructivist lens, this study analyzes how Western and regional media portray the Captagon trade—as either a growing security threat or a convenient political narrative. Combining case studies on Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia with media content analysis and policy review, the research reveals a complex web where drugs fund militias, bypass sanctions, and shape international responses. The findings challenge simplified narratives and call for nuanced, multi-dimensional strategies that address the roots of the drug trade rather than merely its symptoms. This study ultimately asks: is Captagon merely a crisis of addiction, or is it a tool of 21st-century warfare?38 0Item Restricted Human Trafficking in Conflict Zones: The Exploitation of Vulnerable Populations(University of Sussex, 2024) Althobaiti, Rawan; Sinclair-House, NicholasThis research investigates human trafficking in conflict zones, where vulnerable populations such as women, children, refugees, and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are severely exploited amidst the chaos and breakdown of law and order. The study explores how rebel groups and organized crime networks capitalize on these conditions, engaging in forced labour, sexual exploitation, and child soldier recruitment, often to fund their operations. By examining case studies in Syria, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Libya, it illustrates how trafficking dynamics differ based on local factors such as resource-driven conflicts and displacement crises. The research also evaluates international frameworks, including the Palermo Protocol, while identifying gaps in both national and global responses. Ultimately, the findings emphasize the urgent need for stronger legal frameworks, enhanced global cooperation, and targeted interventions to address the root causes poverty, displacement, and weak governance that perpetuate human trafficking in conflict zones.27 0