Episode 26: Post-Soviet Crime and Its Impact Abroad
Prof Leslie Holmes
Duration: 20 min 04 sec
Format: MP3
"They knew how criminals worked before, and if they're really desperate, then they use the experience and the knowledge they have." - Prof Leslie Holmes
Useful Information
Books
- Holmes, L. Rotten States: Corruption, Post-Communism and Neoliberalism, Duke University Press, 2006.
ISBN: 0822337924
Buy from Melbourne University Bookshop
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- Dryzek, J.S., Holmes, L.T. Post-Communist Democratization: Political Discourses across Thirteen Countries, Cambridge University Press, 2002.
ISBN: 052180664X
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Journal Articles
- Holmes, L.T., 'Lithuanias prospects after joining NATO and the EU', Annual Journal of the Lithuanian Studies Society, 18 (2004), pp. 5-9.
- Holmes. L.T., 'Corruption in the Baltic Countries, with Particular Reference to Lithuania', Lithuanian Papers, Vol.14, 2000, pp.30-5.
- Dryzek, J..S, Holmes, L.T., 'The Real World of Civic Republicanism: Making Democracy Work in Poland and the Czech Republic', Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 52, No.6 (2000), pp.1043-68.
Department of Political Science
School of Political Science, Criminology and Sociology
Credits
Host: Sian Prior
Producers: Kelvin Param, Eric van Bemmel and Sian Prior
Audio Engineer: Craig McArthur
Theme Music performed by Sergio Ercole. Mr Ercole is represented by the Musicians' Agency, Faculty of Music
Voiceover: Paul Richiardi
Series Creators: Eric van Bemmel and Kelvin Param
Melbourne University Up Close is brought to you by the Marketing and Communications Division in association with Asia Institute.
In the Soviet Union, there
In the Soviet Union, there was organized crime at the state level. Lenin and Stalin were mafia-men, and they trained the professionals to work for the Soviet Union throughout the world, in intelligence and counterintelligence services. Now Russia is still suffering of the legacy of the Soviet regime and the crime rate there is extremely high, but it steadily decreases, due to the policy of the country's leadership.
Organized Crime in the former Soviet Union
I recently listened to your interview with Prof. Leslie Holmes. He did a wonderful job of providing an overview of the problem of the so-called Russian Mafia.
I would propose extending the scope of the problem to include a wide range of economic activity by not only "organized crime" in the traditional sense, but also state and former state actors as Leslie mentioned in his comments.
In the United States, rings of loosely organized criminals have been moving across the country for more than 20 years causing havoc in, among other things, the medical and auto insurance industries. Billions of dollars have been siphoned from the system.
Imagine a system as large as the New York State insurance industry where each driver in the state is paying an extra $200 a year because of fraud, much of which is originated by former Soviets. It is believed that the wealthy, more organized "organized crime groups" are financing these networks of doctors, lawyers, and faux victims to drain the system of as much money as possible. Much of this behavior finds its roots in pre-Revolution Russia as well as the Soviet period.
Your listeners/readers interested in the subject matter may be interested in my new book, Investigating the Russian Mafia, based on seven years of living in the former Soviet Union, working closely with the police and former KGB as the director of the Moscow office of a global corporate investigation firm, and as the only American to work in the Organized Crime Control Department of the Soviet Union, 1990-91.
You can find more on the book at: www.cap-press.com/books/1720.
Best regards, Joe Serio