Hidden Power: The Strategic Logic of Organized Crime - Hardcover

Cockayne, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0190627336 ISBN 13: 9780190627331

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA, 2016

Synopsis

What should we make of the outsized role organized crime plays in conflict and crisis, from drug wars in Mexico to human smuggling in North Africa, from the struggle in Crimea to scandals in Kabul? How can we deal with the convergence of politics and crime in so-called 'mafia states' such as Guinea-Bissau, North Korea or, as some argue, Russia?

Drawing on unpublished government documents and mafia memoirs, James Cockayne discovers the strategic logic of organized crime, hidden in a century of forgotten political--criminal collaboration in New York, Sicily and the Caribbean. He reveals states and mafias competing - and collaborating -- in a competition for governmental power. He discovers mafias influencing elections, changing constitutions, organizing domestic insurgencies and transnational terrorism, negotiating peace deals, and forming governmental joint ventures with ruling groups. And he sees mafias working with the US government to spy on American citizens, catch Nazis, try to assassinate Fidel Castro, invade and govern Sicily, and playing unappreciated roles in the Bay of Pigs fiasco and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

About this title

About the Author

James Cockayne is an Australian strategist, writer and international lawyer who works at the UN. His research and practice focus on armed groups, organized crime, counter-terrorism and the protection of human rights.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0190627336
• ISBN 13: 9780190627331
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 496