With thousands of dead in the latest flare-up in fighting between Hezbollah and Israel in Lebanon, it can be hard to conceive that Lebanon was once an oasis for peace and tolerance. Beirut once had a rightly deserved reputation as the Paris of the Middle East.
That status ended not with the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war in 1975, but with the rise of the Assad regime in Syria several years earlier. President Hafez al Assad never renounced Syria’s claim to the entirety of Lebanon but was content to treat Lebanon as a special zone. While his terrorism sponsorship subjected Syria to U.S. sanctions in 1979, his autocracy began to suffocate Syrian society, and his embrace of state-dominant socialism further isolated his economy. Lebanon then became a lifeline, a pressure relief valve to allow money laundering, drug trafficking, and sanctions evasion. Syrian elites could escape to Beirut for a weekend to blow off steam, making the social deprivations of life in Syria more tolerable because, at least for the elites, they were temporary. While the Assad regime gained, it was a parasitic relationship for which the Lebanese ultimately paid the price.
Nor was Lebanon the only small state to find itself entrapped in such an exploitative relationship. Pakistan remains little more than a territory through which China can launder its interests. That Pakistan is both a Major Non-NATO Ally and a privileged recipient of U.S. military gear and a vassal of China is an incongruence that can only lead to national security disaster.
Northern Cyprus, too, for Turkey plays an analogous role equivalent to Lebanon for Assad’s Syria. Just as Syria does not recognize or respect Lebanese sovereignty, so too does Turkey reject Cypriot integrity and sovereignty. And while Syria transformed Lebanon into a mafia state — Hezbollah was just one of many mafias present — Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus is an international hub for money laundering. While the Republic of Cyprus has reformed its finances and now enjoys one of the most transparent banking sectors in Europe, just across the line of control, the Turkish zone is a one-stop shop for every criminal, smuggler, and terrorist. Those investing in northern Cyprus chose it for a simple reason: they can act with impunity and use the complicated status of the island to gain a foothold for their criminal enterprise in Europe. After all, Cyprus is a European Union member.
That Cyprus is an island, however, limits its utility for some purposes. Drug smugglers can establish themselves in the occupied zones, but the Cypriot coast guard and Greek navy can prevent onward distribution.
This may be why Turkey is increasingly turning to Albania. The small Balkan country is no stranger to organized crime, but incumbent Prime Minister Edi Rama has taken the country’s criminality to a new level. His legalization of marijuana cultivation has provided cover to launder drug profits as Albania becomes Europe’s drug hub for not only marijuana, but also heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamines.
Rama consults frequently with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom he openly models himself after. Like Erdogan and his cronies, Rama and his allies make money confiscating land for development. Those who stand in his way — former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj and Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj — find themselves fighting spurious charges from SPAK, an Orwellian anti-corruption force that acts increasingly as Rama’s private militia. Partisan U.S. ambassadors and real estate dealings with both Alex Soros and Jared Kushner give Rama a sense of impunity.
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What happens in Albania will not stay in Albania. Just as Lebanon descended into chaos, the willful targeting of Rama’s opponents and clean government advocates frustrates citizens who were once the most pro-American in Europe. Organized crime and the drug economy give criminals and terrorists a foothold in Europe. Just as Assad sponsored terrorists in Lebanon while seeking plausible deniability, Erdogan may soon do likewise in Albania.
Albania may appear small, but Rama represents a gangrene that must be amputated lest its poison spread.
Michael Rubin is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential. He is director of analysis at the Middle East Forum and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.