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Western states to pay even more attention to the situation in West Africa, especially in
the fight against blood diamonds and illegal arms trafficking as well as international
terrorism.
Whatever the locale, dark networks will remain a problem as long as the basic
causes that brought them into existence and sustain them are not eradicated: drug
trafficking will persist as long as there is a high demand for drugs in the Western
countries with huge profit margins. Terrorism will remain an essential problem as long as
people feel suppressed, alienated and impoverished and are susceptible to violent
“solutions”. Diamond and arms smuggling will continue as long as there are (civil) wars.
The activity will move elsewhere, once one failed state has ceased to be a convenient
operative base, although it is possible that it will be difficult to find another and the new
base may be less advantageous than the last one. Therefore, until we are able to eradicate
these long term causes, containment of dark networks is the best choice we might have.
Convention