In the current processes of political, economic and cultural changes serious cross-border forms of organized crime receive unprecedented attention as spectacular global media events, as 'threats' of all sorts, and as priority targets of criminal policy and political agendas. Most books on 'global organized crime' focus on one particular region, topic or event, and are written from one specific theoretical and disciplinary framework. The renowned scholars who have contributed to this volume present up-to-date expertise on regions as distant and different as Russia, Colombia, the Netherlands, Israel, Peru and Britain. They tackle phenomena such as international drug trafficking, alien and women smuggling, terrorism, East European organized crime and financial crimes. They show not only how these issues are interrelated, but also the way in which they interact with social, economic and political legitimate structures. The contributors critically question the policies and strategies currently pursued. They explore different theoretical arguments from the perspective of their own disciplines, which include economics, criminology, political science and anthropology.

Transnational organized crime interferes with the everyday lives of more and more people - and represents a serious threat to democracy. By now, organized crime has become an inherent feature of economic globalization, and the fine line between the legal and illegal operation of business networks is blurred. Additionally, few experts could claim to have comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the laws and regulations governing the international flow of trade, and hence of the borderline towards criminal transactions. This book offers contributions from 12 countries around the world authored by 25 experts from a wide range of academic disciplines, representatives from civil society organizations and private industry, journalists, as well as activists. Recognizing the complexity of the issue, this publication provides a cross cultural and multi-disciplinary analysis of transnational organized crime including a historical approach from different regional and cultural contexts.

This book offers a comprehensive, multidimensional look into the major activities, groups, causes, and policing strategies related to global organized crime. Global Organized Crime: A Reference Handbook examines global organized crime dating back to its 17th-century roots. Unlike most works on the subject, which take a parochial approach by concentrating on individual countries or regions, this book uniquely details the impact of 21st-century globalization on such groups and their activities. Exploring the continuum of international organized crime and related developments from its early beginnings to the present era, the book also looks at the complicated issues that continue to influence its growth. It covers the impact of the end of the Cold War, immigration, the global drug trade, weapons sales, human smuggling and trafficking, the convergence of funding sources, and the effects of technology. What especially distinguishes this book is the connections it makes between organized crime activities and failed states, civil wars, political transitions, regional conflicts, and terrorist groups.

This book explains the existence of illicit markets throughout human history and provides recommendations to governments. Organized criminal networks increased in strength after the enforcement of prohibition, eventually challenging the authority of the state and its institutions through corruption and violence. Criminal networks now organize under cyber-infrastructure, what we call the Deep or Dark Web. The authors analyze how illicit markets come together, issues of destabilization and international security, the effect of legitimate enterprises crowded out of developing countries, and ultimately, illicit markets' cost to human life.

Crime is recognized as a constant factor within human society, but in the twenty-first century organized crime is emerging as one of the distinctive security threats of the new world order. The more complex, organized and interconnected society becomes, its crime becomes too. This book recognizes that the new century will be defined in part by a struggle between an ‘upperworld’, defined by increasingly open economic systems and democratic politics, and a transnational, entrepreneurial, dynamic and richly varied underworld, willing and able to use and distort these trends for its own ends. In order to understand this challenge, this book gathers together experts from a variety of fields to understand how organized crime is changing. From the Sicilian Mafia and the Japanese Yakuza, to the new challenges of Russian and East European gangs and the ‘virtual mafias’ of the cybercriminals, this book offers a clear and concise introduction to many of the key players moving in this global criminal underworld. This book is a special issue of Global Crime

Despite strenuous efforts from local, national, and international law enforcement, organized crime continues to thrive and prosper—even centuries-old crime outfits are surviving the global forces of mass migration and multinational business and finance. From traditional gangland enterprises such as narcotics, gambling, and prostitution, the world’s mafias have moved into new sources of illegal income, including high-tech arms smuggling, money laundering, and identity fraud. Traditional Crime in the Modern World tracks these organizations—the Italian and Mexican mafias, Columbian drug cartels, Chinese triads, and others—across five continents as they adapt to change, and assesses their prospects in the short and long term. World events such as the collapse of the Soviet Union and the 9/11 terror attacks are discussed in the context of contributing to emerging markets for illicit goods and services, and to evolving partnerships among criminal entities. This timely volume: • Provides a comprehensive overview of how mafia-like structures function today. • Analyzes in depth national crime situations with global implications. • Examines the migration of organized crime groups and their operations in their new countries. • Gauges the influence of digital and other technologies on organized crime. • Where applicable, notes the links between organized crime and national political institutions. • Describes the impact of the global financial crisis on crime organizations. Concise, compelling, and deeply documented, Traditional Crime in the Modern World is an eye-opening resource for researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, particularly with an interest in organized crime and trafficking, as well as related topics of Demography, Political Science, and International Relations.