Clans,politics and organized crime in Central Asia

This paper investigates the role of transnational organized crime in the democratisation process in the Central Asian area. It examines the inherent connections that exist between the leading tribal families, political elites and organized crime, and explores how criminal networks have proliferated in society and consequently in politics. The complete absence of a ruling élite and striking economic issues left unsolved were the legacy that Soviet rule would leave to the newly independent Central Asian Republics. After the fall of the former Soviet Union other, more profitable forms of transnational organized crime flourished. According to the official statistics of the UNODC and the American State Department, 92% of the world’s heroin is produced in Afghanistan. Of this, around 65% is smuggled into Europe and America along the Silk Road, and therefore through the five Central Asian Republics and Russia. High levels of corruption in Central Asia heavily affect political and economic life. The economies of the region have progressively become dominated by criminal activity with smuggling, trafficking and other activities linked to transnational organized crime as the major source of income. Central Asia’s strategic location makes this a global security concern.

Islam,Politics, and the Security of Central Asia

The editors of Novyi mir [New World] received many hundreds of letters following publication of the article "Advances and Debts" [Avansy i dolgi].* Roughly nine-tenths of them supported the author's positions; one-tenth were partially or entirely opposed. Many of the letters raised very acute issues and serious problems concerning perestroika [restructuring] which require the most painstaking reflection and discussion. The editors have accordingly called upon N. Shmelev to share with the readers his thoughts upon reading the mail received in response to his article.     

Regional integration in Central Asia

This paper analyses the interaction of regionalism and multilateralism in the five Central Asian countries’ trade policies. The basic question is why have leaders been willing to sign so many regional agreements, which often include visions of regional trading arrangements (RTAs), and yet so unwilling to implement any preferential trading arrangements? The paper examines the durability of multilateralism and the added incentives for joining the World Trade Organization in light of China’s WTO accession in 2001 and Russia’s expected accession. The final section draws together arguments for multi-dimensional (bilateral, plurilateral, and regional) regional cooperation within a WTO framework.     

Corruption and Wildlife Trafficking: Three Case Studies Involving Asia

As wildlife trafficking or the illegal wildlife trade has taken a more prominent place on the global agenda, discussions are taking place as to how wildlife trafficking happens. An increased understanding has revealed that corruption is a key facilitator of this profitable and pervasive global black market, but limited research has explored exactly what that corruption looks like and how corruption enables wildlife to be trafficked. Furthermore, research shows that Asia, particularly China and Southeast Asia, are focal points for the supply and demand of certain species of wildlife. Through a literature-based investigation, this paper unpacks the role specific acts of corruption play in the trafficking of ivory, reptile skins and live reptiles from, through or to Asia. It is proposed that not only do individual corrupt acts enable wildlife trafficking to happen, but also that corrupted structures (the criminal justice system, and economic and political foundations) in some societies enable trafficking to happen and also increase the resilience of trafficking to reduction measures. In collating detailed data about the forms of corruption facilitating wildlife trafficking, the gaps in knowledge, and therefore the important areas for further research, become evident.     

The Collision of Islam and Terrorism in Central Asia

The five Central Asian republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan gained independence in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The rapid disintegration of the Soviet Union and the subsequent unexpected independence of Central Asian states in 1991 resulted in a renewal of nationalistic feelings and, in some quarters, a desire to re-establish a Caliphate. Some terrorist groups in Central Asia see the future of the region as being a Caliphate. The question arises whether adherence to Islam and its ideology in Central Asia is significant enough to be a foundation for the formation of a Caliphate. This paper proposes an answer to this question by analyzing the potential connection between terrorism and the revival of Islam in Central Asia.     

Corruption,bribery and patriarchy in Tanzania

This is an ethnography of the political culture of Tanzania as compared to the political culture of the United States. Endemic and harmful corruption among the political leadership of Tanzania and the United States alike stems from widespread popular equation of order with patriarchy, made worse by extending the logic of patriarchy to belief that social order and welfare rest on the strength of the nation state. The Tanzanian war on corruption and ensuing shutdown of the University of Dar es Salaam during the first half of 1990 affirm the radical feminist premise that the models of legitimacy we apply in the privacy of our families are identical to and inseparable from the models of legitimacy employeed domestically and internationally by our political leaders. Corruption and other violence are more directly expressed in Tanzania and more indirectly expressed by Americans who as a consequence are more enslaved to corruption and violence than Tanzanians. The contrast in Tanzanian and U.S. political cultures and the nature of patriarchy itself leads to a set of paradoxes about achieving freedom from corruption through exercise of patriarchal state power—as that children who are the ultimate victims of corruption are at once most blamed by adults, more responsive to change than adults, and unable to change as long as they remain the subjects of patriarchal discipline. Bribery is not necessarily a part of the problem of corruption but is a part of the solution. Freedom from corruption basically requires democratic accountability. Tanzanians and Americans are linked symbiotically: neither people can free themselves from corruption without before the other. There is no logical starting point for a patriarchal approach to freeing people from corruption. On the other hand radically effective emancipation from corruption is occurring across Tanzania and the United States.     

Corruption and NIC development: A case study of South Korea

The debate on corruption and economic performance has swung from one position to the other over the decades. During the 1960s the school of thought associated with modernisation theory argued corruption was often positively correlated with economic growth. (Huntington, 1968; Leff, 1964) Subsequently corruption came to be viewed as inimical to growth by undermining the basis of stable, rational public policies and allocation through markets (Rose-Ackerman, 1978; Theobald, 1990), the situation in which it is still largely viewed today, particularly following the “corruption eruption” of the 1990s (Alam, 1989; Leiken, 1997; Naim, 1995). East Asian countries stand as important case studies of the role of corruption in industrialisation: this article focuses on South Korea. Firstly corruption coexisted with development. Secondly corruption in South Korea was at different times functional, detrimental, irrelevant and relevant, but always present during rapid industrialisation. This is not of course to argue corruption fuelled growth nor to recommend it as a plausible policy option for developing or transitional economies, since it is evident that in many cases corruption is harmful to growth. This article seeks to understand the role corruption played in Korean economic development to better understand the phenomenon of corruption itself. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Eastern Europe and Central Asia: report identifies human rights gaps

Criminalization and stigmatization of the high-risk behaviours that promote the spread of HIV are fuelling the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Eastern Europe and Central Asia and placing millions of people at risk. This is one of the findings of a report from the United Nations Development Programme released in February 2004. The report, which is the first comprehensive profile of the epidemic in the 28 countries of the region, includes a significant focus on human rights issues.     

腐败、洗钱与反洗钱

洗钱已经是一个国际性的难题。认识洗钱犯罪不仅要立足刑法规范的角度,尤其还要注意从犯罪学立场把握洗钱的时代特征,只有这样才能更及时、有效地组织起反洗钱的防线。该防线主要由三部分组成:即加强金融业监管与自律;完善惩治洗钱罪的刑事立法;开展国际交流合作,打击和防治跨境犯罪。     

Corruption, democracy and the World Bank

In this era of political conditionality and good governance, anti-corruptionhas emerged as a top priority (at least in theory) for all major donors. Thisis almost always linked to support for democratisation efforts, with onenotable exception – the World Bank. The Bank is constricted by anon-political mandate which forbids it supporting one particular politicalsystem through its lending and other activities. Nonetheless, the languageit uses (e.g., accountability, transparency, participation, etc.) and theprojects it supports seem to endorse the spirit of liberal democracy. I arguethat the Bank's mandate is in conflict with a politically sensitive issue likeanti-corruption, and that it is impossible to separate economic issues frompolitical ones in this instance; however, given the lack of consensus on therelationship between democracy, development and corruption, this may bethe best state of affairs for now.     

The Disintegration of the Economy of Central Asia in the Post-Soviet Period

The present stage in the development of the Central Asian region is marked by the disintegration of its economy—its fragmentation into individual components that barely interact with one another, that are subject to no control or coordination, and that are deteriorating progressively as time passes.     

监督文化、机制与官员腐败犯罪

触目惊心的官员腐败犯罪说明我国的监督机制亟待完善。我国监督文化存在的缺陷,使得监督官员腐败犯罪的氛围难以形成,并导致监督机制缺乏力度,反腐法网不严密,贪污贿赂犯罪机会多、成本低,法律对官员腐败犯罪缺乏应有的威慑作用。因此,必须采取中央主导型反腐败模式,建立高效、独立、权威的反腐专门机构;以法律形式确立公务员制度、财产申报制度、储蓄实名制度;制定专门的《反贪污贿赂法》,严密法网,堵塞漏洞,减少腐败犯罪的机会,提高犯罪成本。     

腐败与无能

时势造英雄,同时也带出小人.造时势之功者是英雄,但享功业之成者未必是英雄.英雄横扫千军,天下无敌,但却完全有可能毁在一个小人手里,这早已由历史验证了千百回.英雄能够做到的,小人大多望尘莫及;英雄所以成为英雄,是因为常人与小人都智勇莫如;当然小人能够玩弄的,英雄未必能够懂得;英雄之所以成为英雄,概因他天生不会溜须拍马和苟且钻营.