The Foreign Service Journal, October 2018

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2018 9 DS Special Agent Kai Fornes describes how an enhanced criminal gang vetting program helps block lega l travel to the United States by gang members from the Northern Triangle of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Turning to wildlife trafficking, Lara Rall of World Wide Fund for Nature– South Africa offers a look at this complex problem and how the U SAID- supported Khetha program is tackling it. We also hear from Representative Ed Royce (R-Calif.), sponsor of the END Wildlife Trafficking Act, on the national security implications of this problem. In FS Know-How, Dolores Brown shares “10 Things I Wish I’d Known: Confessions of a Recent Retiree.” Thi s is news you can use. Elsewhere, Ambassador (ret.) Leslie Bassett tells the story of the tragic death of beloved FSO Jessica el Bechir, and how in the aftermath, in grief and trib- ute, the FS community came together as family. FS family member Nicole Schaefer- McDaniel reflects on “Making It in Mongolia” for the Family Member M at- ters column. And FSO Alexis Ludwig takes on Arlen Specter on the squash court a t Embassy Guatemala City circa 1996. Our parting shot this month is from Niger. Please be in touch. Send your letters, Speaking Outs, articles and story ideas over to journal@afsa.org. n LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Borderless Crime BY SHAWN DORMAN I llicit trade, human trafficking, wildlife trafficking, drugs and arms trade, cyber crime, piracy, counterfeiting, money laundering—these illegal transnational activities do not stop at borders. They grow in scope and impact as the world gets smaller, as globalization cre- ates a world where crime can no longer be stopped by border posts, ports and checkpoints. Transnational crime today is more sophisticated and more danger- ous and so much of it is virtual, hidden in dark ungovernable corners of the web. Wherever it originates, the impact of transnational crime is felt at home in the United States. The U.S. Foreign Service is and must be at work doing battle against transnational crime, from Washington and from U.S. missions around the world. This is our focus for October. Profes- sor Louise Shelley offers the 30,000-foot view in “Illicit Trade and Our Global Response,” arguing that U.S. efforts m ust be broad and cross-cutting, requiring cooperation across borders, expertise and specializations. Jim Nealon describes his work on the “Place-Based Strategy” in Hondu- ras, where he served as ambassador from 2014 to 2017. This initiative, which helped to reduce the homicide rate in three pilot communi- ties, shows how going to the local source of a problem can help mitigate the pull of illegal migration. Shawn Dorman is the editor of The Foreign Service Journal.