NCJ Number
208058
Editor(s)
Petrus C. Van Duyne,
Matjaz Jager,
Klaus Von Lampe,
James L. Newell
Date Published
2004
Length
279 pages
Annotation
Eleven papers presented at the Fourth Colloquium on Cross-border Crime are authored by researchers from Central and Western Europe, who write on issues in assessing and responding to organized crime, terrorism, and public corruption.
Abstract
The introductory paper notes the fears raised in the public mind about the threats of organized crime, terrorism, and public corruption, but with little empirical basis for understanding the nature and extent of the threats. Consequently, responses to these threats have not been enlightened nor effective. The next paper analyzes how the image of the threat of organized crime has been formed in the public mind through media coverage and portrayals, which have in turn led to policymaking that is not based in sound empirical analysis. This is followed by a paper that presents an overview of methodological tools for assessing the threat of organized crime. A related paper then critiques current approaches for assessing organized crime, advising that these approaches are weakened by the lack of a generally accepted definition of "organized crime." A paper then focuses on how current economic trends, particularly in the Balkans, foster illegal markets, notably human trafficking, which are instigated and managed by criminal groups that operate across national borders. A preliminary report on research into financial crime in the Czech Republic is followed by an analysis of the threat of Islamic fundamentalism that has targeted Western countries. Another paper considers the "Machiavellianism" of liberal democracy's "War on Terrorism." Remaining papers consider the nature and response to public corruption and efforts of the European Union to legislate against financial crimes. Chapter tables and references