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51. Archaeology of the Present: Organized Crime through the Study of Urban Built Environments

Author:
Eyal Weizman and Guillermo Ruiz de Teresa
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
The urban landscape is a testament to the impact of transnational organized crime (TOC) in the everyday lives of citizens. Because of this, architects and urban planners have an interesting role to play in understanding the complexity of this issue. Acting as archaeologists of the present, they can trace the intricate relationship of crime and its different actors within a transnational network, as it touches ground and transforms cities across borders. Cities are the ultimate battleground of TOC. The controversial topic of occupation law is approached in a conversation on how urban environments are increasingly performing both as spaces of control and spaces of contestation and resistance, and are therefore shaped and transformed by this interplay. Eyal Weizman, director of the Centre for the Research of Architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London, developed a 'forensic' field of study within the realm of architecture, where, by examining the traces of history and its politics within the built environment, a larger understanding of a city and its society can be read. In the context of this issue, Weizman discusses with Guillermo Ruiz de Teresa, architect and Master in Design Studies candidate at Harvard University, how architecture can perform as an able narrator in interpreting and unveiling the way crime embeds itself within the built environment of our cities and thus becomes an active participant in shaping them.
Topic:
Environment
Political Geography:
London and Durban

52. Rio De Janeiro: A Local Response to a Global Challenge

Author:
Col. Robson Rodrigues da Silva and Laura Vargas
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
Transnational organized crime is often manifested by prevalent territorial disputes between rival criminal factions at local levels. Rio de Janeiro—considered one of the most violent of Brazilian cities—has linked lack of security in more than 1,000 of its favelas to a rise in drug trafficking on a regional and cross-border scale. Nonetheless, this city has attracted considerable international attention and investment in the wake of being chosen as host of the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. Since 2008, Rio de Janeiro has launched innovative efforts to reduce violence and change the city's security perceptions—mostly through community policing mechanisms—by establishing more than twenty permanent Pacifying Police Units, called Unidade de Policia Pacificadora (UPP), in its most entrenched communities. Recent progress in reducing Rio de Janeiro's crime rates has partially been attributed to the UPP's successful implementation. Col. Robson Rodrigues da Silva, current Chief of Staff of Administration of the State Military Police of Rio de Janeiro (PMERJ) and former Coordinating Commander of the UPP, explains that the main goal of this program has been to gradually replace repressive action with social preventive measures. Laura Vargas, of the Journal, conducted the following interview with Col. Robson Rodrigues da Silva.
Political Geography:
Brazil

53. Borderland Conditions between the United States and Mexico

Author:
Natalia Mendoza and Rachel St. John
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
The border as a unit of analysis becomes a key player when addressing issues of transnational scale. Throughout history, the shape and meaning of borders have evolved as dynamic configurations responding to a wide range of political, economic, and social affairs. In an effort to understand transnational organized crime (TOC) from a geographical lens, historian Rachel St. John and anthropologist Natalia Mendoza reflect on the changing condition of the U.S.-Mexico border and its spillover effect on peripheral communities. St. John has analyzed the history of the borderlands in her book Line in the Sand, where she explains how the capability of the border to attract people to it creates “a form of negotiated sovereignty” subject to “practical difficulties, transnational forces, local communities and the actions of their counterparts across the line.”[i] Mendoza's ethnographical approach to her field work in the village of Altar in Sonora, Mexico, produced a collection of local narratives on how a community around the border has developed creative ways, both legal and extralegal, to confront the boundary line at a time when governments extend and reinforce the space of state surveillance. The following is a conversation between these two scholars regarding organized crime at the U.S.-Mexico border that can provide a better understanding of a wider conditionality of the boundary line.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
United States and Mexico

54. The Failed Divorce of Serbia's Government and Organized Crime

Author:
Nemanja Mladenovic
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
The first democratically elected Prime Minister of Serbia, Dr. Zoran Djindjic, was assassinated in 2003 by an organized crime group closely connected to Serbian state institutions. The group had amassed enormous wealth through transnational drug trafficking. The political sponsors of Djindjic's assassination are still protected in Serbia today due to the high level of systemic corruption and a lack of political will to prosecute those responsible for this heinous crime. Since their protection impedes justice and, thus, obstructs the rule of law and democratic progress in Serbia, contemporary Serbian society could be seen as the hostage of transnational organized crime and corrupted state officials.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
Europe and Serbia

55. Outgunned: The Honduran Fight Against Transnational Cocaine Traffickers

Author:
Ana-Constantina Kolb
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
Transnational organized crime (TOC) is an insidious and omnipresent element in twenty-first century Honduras, representing a clear threat to the stability of its democracy. Over the past five years, criminal organizations have extended their grip on the fragile states of the Northern Triangle—El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—leading to a severe deterioration in citizen security. By leveraging domestic crime and violence, these organizations inhibit further development and prey on the glaring social inequality prevalent in these countries. This essay will use the definition of TOC as defined by the U.S. Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime, which understands TOC as “those self-perpetuating associations of individuals who operate transnationally for the purpose of obtaining power, influence, monetary and/or commercial gains, or violence.”1 The essay will mainly focus on transnational drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) actively operating in Honduras. First, the essay will give an overview of the operations and expansion of DTOs in the country. Subsequently, it will explore the effect of DTOs on Honduran governance and security. The essay will conclude with a review of current responses and recommendations for future policy.
Political Geography:
United States

56. Criminal Activity in a Globalizing World

Author:
Madeline K.B. Ross
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
In the early twentieth century, the U.S. government was struggling to find a way to combat Al Capone and powerful city gangs. Institutional corruption allowed the gangs to expand into complex organized crime systems that took decades to dismantle. Jay Albanese argues that transnational crime is currently at a similar nascent stage, poised to lay the groundwork for an entrenched international criminal infrastructure that could prove costly and challenging to eradicate.
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
United States

57. Hidden in Plain Sight: An Anthropology of the Global Criminal Underworld

Author:
David Kortava
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
Over the last two decades, the global shadow economy has flourished: according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), illegal trade—in guns, drugs, timber, elephant ivory, human beings, and virtually anything for the right price—generates an annual turnover of some $870 billion, the equivalent of nearly 7 percent of the world's legitimate exports of merchandise. A recent UNODC publication reports that “states and international organizations have largely failed to anticipate the evolution of transnational organized crime.” The entire industry, it would seem, grew up hidden in plain sight, as if garbed in camouflage from its infancy. What countermeasures have been taken—mostly in the form of conventional law enforcement—“have done little” to stem its growth or minimize its impact. Few scholars are less surprised by these grim facts than Dr. Robert Mandel, professor of international affairs at Lewis Clark College and author of Dark Logic: Transnational Criminal Tactics and Global Security. Mandel has been mulling over transnational organized crime for well over a decade, and his latest meditation on the subject can be read as a sequel to an earlier work: Deadly Transfers and The Global Playground: Transnational Security Threats in a Disorderly World (1999).
Topic:
Government
Political Geography:
United States

58. Human Trafficking: A Global Perspective

Author:
Emmania Rodriguez
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
Louise Shelley's new book, Human Trafficking: A Global Perspective is the culmination of sixteen years of research, providing both an excellent introduction to human trafficking and a comprehensive examination of its growth. The book balances breadth and depth by combining firsthand accounts of field practitioners with the analyses of academic experts across the globe. Shelley illustrates how human trafficking's exponential growth during the last twenty years was fueled by regional conflicts, globalization, and climate change. These factors displace populations, and make them vulnerable to exploitation in sectors ranging from agriculture to sex work. Shelley believes that in order to stem human trafficking's current momentum there needs to be a concerted multilateral effort by organizations, government, and civil society, transcending political boundaries. In attempting to be thorough, Shelley occasionally includes some controversial research claims. For example, while discussing trafficking in the United States, Orlando Patterson is cited claiming that the prevalence of exploitation within the African American community arises from "centuries of slavery [emasculating] the role of the father and [encouraging] . . . breeding of children without attention to their supervision." However, Shelley refers to other experts, and her approach provides readers with a broad spectrum of knowledge. For those unfamiliar with the subject matter, Shelley's research incorporates historical context and explains the push and pull factors behind human trafficking. Experts will find the book's truly global perspective satisfying. Case studies cover multiple countries in every major region, from developing nations such as Nepal and China in Asia and Honduras and Brazil in Latin America, to developed nations such as the United States and Canada in North America. For its versatility, Human Trafficking: A Global Perspective deserves a place on anyone's bookshelf.
Political Geography:
United States, China, Canada, Brazil, and Latin America

59. The Story of Two Women who Risked Everything in the International Drug Trade

Author:
Alina A. Smyslova
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
Much has been written about the global drug trade, the international cartels, and the men at the top, creating an illusion that women are not a part of this illicit business. In Strange Trade, author Asale Angel-Ajani shatters this stereotype with an intimate account of two African women involved in drug trafficking, who were brought together in Italy's Rebibbia prison. Angel-Ajani's retelling of their narratives, as well as her own experiences, makes this book not only a story of the drug trade, but also one of the author's adventures researching this dangerous subject. The greatest lesson communicated by this book is that women are not necessarily mules and victims. As demonstrated in the stories of "the Ugandan," some women "chose the business" and lead their own international cartels. One of the women's tales offers a stark contradiction of the stereotypical female experience: a desperate victim tricked into becoming a mule. Angel-Ajani offers glimpses into subjects that could be books in themselves: the horrors of the Liberia's civil war, life in Rebibbia Prison and refugee camps, the business of global drug trafficking operations, and more. These glimpses only graze the surface, and when combined with the author's quick transitions between individual viewpoints and timeframes, often make the work seem disorganized and prevent the reader from connecting with the women. Perhaps the strongest connection made is that with the author and the consistent interjection of her own emotions and experiences in the narrative. While this adds a personal touch to the book, an academic audience might find it unnecessary and distracting. Including additional facts and data would have made this a stronger and more attractive read to academics who will not find much scholarly content to add to their personal research. But to readers interested in female experiences in drug trafficking, this is a worthy and quick read.
Political Geography:
Africa and Liberia

60. The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade

Author:
Krisztian Simon
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of International Affairs
Institution:
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
Abstract:
The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade Andrew Feinstein (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011), 672 pages. In Shadow World, a book on the global arms trade, author Andrew Feinstein argues that there is only a thin line between what constitutes legal and illegal. "With bribery and corruption de rigueur," he writes, "there are very few arms transactions that are entirely above board." Feinstein notes that manufacturers are often major donors to political parties and prospective employers of defeated politicians, which ensures that the beneficiaries of arms deals seldom face justice. According to the author's estimates, including the trade in conventional arms-which includes military vehicles, missiles, and ammunition-is worth $60 billion per year, accounts for more than 40 percent of the corruption in world trade, and has cost the lives of 231 million people in the last century. The money spent on arms, especially by developing countries, is desperately needed in other areas. Feinstein, who resigned from the African National Congress and South Africa's governing party after they were unwilling to launch an investigation into a major arms deal recalls that, in the late 1990s, the South African government spent £6 billion (nearly $10 billion) on guns it barely used, even while it could not afford antiretroviral drugs for the country's 6 million HIV-infected citizens. According to Feinstein, more than 355,000 of them died between 2000 and 2005. Using numerous interviews and confidential documents, Feinstein reconstructs the major arms deals of the last hundred years, describing in great detail the interactions of governments, manufacturers, and powerful arms dealers and provides an astonishing and insightful description of the world's "second-oldest profession." Although many of the stories were reported in the international press, they have rarely been described in such great detail. What is missing, however, is a more detailed analysis of the reasons for the lack of political will for reform, though Feinstein does offer some guidelines to help future policy makers deal with the arms industry. Unfortunately, Feinstein does not expect to see any changes in the near future; the first decade of the new millennium was, in his view, even more violent than the previous century.
Political Geography:
Africa, New York, and South Africa