Das Kapitel von Daniele Ganser behandelt den Parallelstaat „Propaganda Due“ (P2), der 1981 in Italien aufgedeckt wurde und in dem sich Politiker, Militärs und Wirtschaftsführer jenseits aller demokratischen Kontrolle gegenseitig Vorteile verschafften. Andere Beiträge untersuchen den Drogenhandel in Mexiko, die Mafia in Sizilien und die Geheimdienste in den Philippinen.
Das Buch besteht aus 13 Kapiteln:
PART I: THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
1. Deconstructing the Shadows by Eric Wilson
2. Democratic State vs. Deep State: Approaching the Dual State of the West by Ola Tunander
3. Governing Through Globalised Crime by Mark Findlay
4. Prospering from Crime: Money Laundering and Financial Crises by Guilhem Fabre
5. The Shadow Economy: Markets, Crime and the State by Howard Dick
6. Transnational Crime and Global Illicit Economies by Vincenzo Ruggiero
7. Redefining Statehood in the Global Periphery by William Rene
PART II: CASE STUDIES
8. The Sicilian Mafia: Parastate and Adventure Capitalism by Henner Hess
9. Drugs, Anti-communism and Extra-legal Repression in Mexico by Peter Dale Scott
10. Parapolitics and Afghanistan by Rensselaer W. Lee III
11. From Drug Lords to Warlords: Illegal Drugs and the 'Unintended' Consequences of Drug Policies in Colombia by Francisco E. Thoumi
12. Covert Netherworld: Clandestine Services and Criminal Syndicates in Shaping the Philippine State by Alfred W. McCoy
13. Beyond Democratic Checks and Balances: The 'Propaganda Due' Masonic Lodge and the CIA in Italy's First Republic by Daniele Ganser