Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-223) and index.

The war orphan -- The bombed-out shop -- Coconuts and cigarettes : some definitions -- The Gov'nor's red tractors -- Military takeovers (or, how to own a country) -- The untold story of the amputees -- Robber barons -- The border post--a billion-dollar truck stop (going international) -- Romancing the stone : borders and businesspeople -- The washing machine : laundering, part one -- Diamonds and fish : going global -- Ports -- Drugs -- The cultures of criminals -- The cultures of cops -- The world-port -- The investment machine : laundering, part two -- Human cargo -- Post-terror : creating (the illusion of) security -- Conclusion.

Carolyn Nordstrom explores the pathways of global crime in a stunning work of anthropology that has the power to change the way we think about the world. To write this book, she spent three years traveling to hot spots in Africa, Europe, Asia and the USA investigating the dynamics of illegal trade circulating around the world--from blood diamonds and arms to pharmaceuticals, exotica, and staples like food and oil. Global Outlaws peels away the layers of this vast economy that extends from a war orphan in Angola selling Marlboros on the street to powerful transnational networks that reach across continents and oceans. Nordstrom's extraordinary fieldwork includes interviews with scores of informants including the smugglers, victims, power elite, and profiteers who populate these economic war zones. Her compelling investigation shows that the sum total of extra-legal activities represent a significant part of the world's economy and in so doing, provides a new framework for understanding twenty-first century economics and economic power. At the same time, Global Outlaws powerfully reveals the myths, illusions, and realities of security in all areas of transport and trade, and illuminates many of the difficult ethical problems these issues pose. -- Publisher description.