We are indebted to Ambassador Melvyn Levitsky and Bartosz Stanislawski who started the Mapping Global Insecurity Project that forms the basis for this book. Ambassador Levitsky taught a course in the Maxwell School that became affectionately known as the ‘Drugs and Thugs’ class in which many of our professional and doctoral students enrolled. Bartosz was one such student who did a doctoral dissertation on the concept of the black spot after spending time in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. He began the study of these geopolitical locations with funding from the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs and laid the foundation for what has followed. The project on which this book is based is a multidisciplinary endeavor composed of students and faculty with interests and expertise in economics, forensic science, geography, law, political science, psychology, and public policy working together. We have benefited enormously from these interactions. Among those to whom we owe a particular debt of gratitude are Jonathan Adelman, Bethany Eberle, Isaac Kfir, Angely Martinez, Keli Perrin, Catriona Standfield, Laura Steinberg, and Corrine Zoli. We have also benefited from the help that students enrolled in the Maxwell School’s Master of Arts in International Relations Program have provided. They have been critical in writing and updating the in-depth case studies that form the backbone of this book. Specifically, we would like to thank Marc Barnett, Taylor Brown, Jane Chung, Chris Conrad, Jessica Kesler, Paige Kisner, John Rastler, Bree Spencer, and Tim Stoutzenberger.