The Russian 'Mafiya': Consolidation and Globalisation

Organised crime emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union unexpectedly quickly and forcefully, rapidly 'colonising' the new economic and political structures. Hyperbole notwithstanding, the 'mafiya' does not 'own' the new Russia, but it is undoubtedly a powerful force, and one which has eagerly exploited new opportunities to cultivate strategic alliances in the global underworld and also to spread across the world. It is presently at an important crossroads at home. It is maturing, as larger, more professional networks eliminate or incorporate the myriad gangs that emerged in the freewheeling days of the early Russian state, and under President Putin it faces a regime embarked upon a state-building programme intolerant of the kind of open anarchy that characterised the early 1990s. However, Russian organised crime remains strikingly disorganised, characterised by loose and highly entrepreneurial networks rather than disciplined hierarchies, and there are still pressures, including the impact of foreign criminal penetration and the growing profits from drug smuggling, which threaten the present status quo.