Crime Desk

I treat organized crime, international aid, debt issues and democratic reform as linked issues; thus, several of my essays mention TOC/government corruption. To see more Pundita essays that mention the issues, type "crime" into eBlogger's Google search engine at the top of this page.

When he began his job at the World Bank Paul Wolfowitz singled out corruption as a major problem in development and said, "Corruption is the biggest threat to democracy since communism."

Western governments and international organizations have been slow to seek public discussion of the corruption/TOC issue. And they've been slow to recognize that corruption in the present era is of a very different order than the 'inevitable' corruption that traditionally comes with the territory of government.

Transnational crime syndicates are not Don Corleone. They can buy out national governments, and they don't hesitate to form alliances with terror armies and spies selling WMD secrets. The vast amounts of money at their command mean that bribes in the modern era are of an order that the old-time ward heelers could not have imagined.

The millions of AIDS orphans in Africa and Asia are a labor pool for TOC syndicates, so the issue of transnational crime's intersection with government corruption represents a humanitarian crisis as well as a serious challenge to democracy.

Governments can get together and offer immunity if people will just start coming forward and telling what they know.

Crime Desk (in order of publication)

IMF-Ukraine Central Bank scandal During Viktor Yushchenko's tenure as head of Ukraine's Central Bank, the bank steals hundreds of millions of dollars from the International Monetary Fund.

To the ramparts, fellow billionaires... Verticalization of government corruption in Russia. Maps a key problem for most developing countries.

Paw, a Revenuer's at the door... Inadequate tax base feeds crime and government corruption in tribal/clan societies.

Kaiser Soze Model of Democracy The Gang that Couldn't Launder Money Straight tries to take over Ireland's government.

Elephant in the World's Living Room US foreign policy needs to pay more attention to the TOC factor.

The matrix of TOC Introduction to International Crime Threat Assessment Report.

Crooked governments beware...

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