Following the Money in the Age of Irregular Conflict
๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ด๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ณ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ๐
Irregular conflict is rarely sustained by ideology or firepower alone. It endures because money movesโquietly and persistentlyโthrough legal systems, gray markets, and global financial networks that mask intent long before violence appears. Threat networks understand a simple truth: money is power. It buys loyalty, corrupts institutions, and allows adversaries to adapt faster than traditional military responses.
In โ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ต,โ Sal Artiaga examines why Countering Threat Finance (CTF) has become one of the most decisive arenas in modern irregular warfare. Todayโs adversaries operate as hybrid networks, blending ideology, profit, and transnational crime. From trade-based money laundering and shell companies to cryptocurrencies and informal value transfer systems, these actors exploit the seams of the global financial ecosystem to remain below the threshold of war. Every transaction leaves a trace. Over time, money reveals the network.
At ๐ ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฒ, we understand that modern conflict is fought across financial, informational, and human terrain. Following the money exposes the connective tissue of threat networksโand turns their greatest strength into a strategic liability.