Colombia

Traditional studies in international security have paid almost no attention to governance dynamics involving the extent of social violence and the new forms of governance generated by agents of violence, which are defined as Violent Non-State Actors (VNSAs). VNSAs can be defined as "relatively autonomous organizations (not under complete and direct state control) with significant and sustained coercive capabilities for organized violence.” In our work, we focus on a very specific kind of VNSA that uses violence as a tool to achieve their aims: organized crime.