Arms Trafficking, Mercenaries and Drug Cartels


Book Description







All Is Clouded by Desire


Book Description

Before Enron, before Arthur Anderson, and before Worldcom, there was the Bank of New York money laundering scandal, which hit headlines in 1999. Promising to be one of the most important books on international organized crime, money laundering, and the complicity between legitimate and illegitimate businesses in both the United States and the former Soviet Union, among other places, during the last decade of the 20th century, All Is Clouded by Desire examines the criminal dealings that led to the revelation that the Bank of New York's Eastern European Division laundered $6 billion for Russian organized criminals and other shady organizations and individuals. In a series of intrigues that involved crooked Geneva banker Bruce Rappaport and high-level members of the Bank of New York, criminal Russian organizations were able to thrive and prosper during a time when the rest of the former Soviet Union crumbled amidst growing corruption and a declining economy. Tracing the financial shenanigans back many years, Block and Weaver illustrate how the underworld of high finance, money laundering, mafia groups, CIA operatives, and legitimate banking institutions can clean dirty money and operate criminal enterprises that span the globe. Block and Weaver carefully assemble a vivid examination of the world of hot money in the arena of international banking and the roles played by Intelligence, the politically connected, and the criminally inclined. Focusing on the intensely private Genava banker Bruce Rappaport and the Bank of New York, the authors show how the two worked together with dodgy Russian banks to move and launder billions through channels that include off-shore banks, shady joint-ventures, and outright criminal organizations. Relying on primary sources from the logs of the institutions involved, interviews with British Intelligence operatives and former CIA officers, secret discussions with private detectives handling the infamous Marc Rich tax case, and material collected by two private detective agencies in London and New York, the book exposes the various machinations that were instrumental in completing the financial schemes that would ultimately cause the downfall of two top Bank of New York executives.




Crass Struggle


Book Description

A critique of the lifestyles of today's ultra rich bolstered by old-fashioned muckraking, Crass Struggle provides a sharp, original, and often humorous commentary on "the bad side of the good life, the underbelly of the potbelly." Taking the reader inside today's luxury trades, R.T. Naylor visits gold mines spewing arsenic and diamond fields spreading human misery, knocks on the doors of purveyors of luxury seafood as the oceans empty, samples wares of merchants offering top-vintage wines (or at least top-vintage labels), calls on companies running trophy-hunting expeditions and dealers in exotic pets high on endangered lists, and much more. What stands out is that so many high-priced items glitter on the outside, but have more than a spot of rot at the core. Through a series of outrageous but all too true stories, Crass Struggle reveals the appalling consequences of consumerism run amok and its links to repetitive financial swindles and the alarming degradation of the biophysical environment.




Russia and the Arms Trade


Book Description

For this study, a group of Russian authors were commissioned to describe and assess the arms trade policies and practices of Russia under new domestic and international conditions. The contributors, drawn from the government, industry, and academic communities, offer a wide range of reports on the political, military, economic, and industrial implications of Russian arms transfers, as well as specific case studies of key bilateral arms transfer relationships.




Warlords in International Relations


Book Description

This timely collection investigates the meaning of the widely used term 'warlordism' in contemporary global politics. The introduction develops an analytical framework in order for scholars to understand the range and differing intensity of differing types of warlordist and sub-state conflict. The volume then proceeds to an examination of warlordism in relation to the international markets in light weaponry and narcotics. It also includes a series of case-studies such as Somalia, Rwanda, Kashmir and Albania.




The War on Drugs


Book Description

Here is the whole story of the world of drugs—from the infamous Opium Wars to the legal availability of narcotics in the United States during the past century; from the unexpected boost given to illicit drugs by Prohibition to the great success of the French Connection. The global drug trade is one of the most prominent examples of the law of supply and demand. Despite such countermeasures as the execution of narcotics dealers in China and the United States's much-ballyhooed "War on Drugs," drug traffickers have always managed to meet the demand and satisfy an ever-growing customer base. In addition to offering a wealth of little-known facts, The War on Drugs also covers major dealers, cartels, organizations, smuggling and anti-smuggling strategies, major miscalculations and disasters, drug epidemics, legal restraints, famous incidents, and more.




Rogue States and Nuclear Outlaws


Book Description

Well-known political analyst Klare presents a timely critical analysis of Pentagon strategy in the post-Cold War era and shows how the Pentagon's planners have created a new agenda that will justify Cold War levels of spending. He reveals how "rogue states" and "nuclear outlaws" like North Korea, Iran, Iraq, and Libya have been made new targets, and how the US Armed Forces are being reshaped to fight against these enemies. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR







Law and the Spirit of Inquiry


Book Description

This rich and fascinating collection of essays, in honour of Sir Louis Blom-Cooper, reflects the high regard in which he is held throughout the world. In his Foreword to the book, Lord Woolf, the Master of the Rolls, emphasises the contribution which Sir Louis has made, `in so many capacities. Of course as an advocate and an eminent Queen's Counsel (both in England and Wales and Northern Ireland); he frequently appeared for those who are disadvantaged against the establishment ... Louis' commitment has been on an international scale and in many of the out-of-the-way parts of the world he has a near-hero status. Not many Queen's Counsel will, for example, have been prepared to make the near 6-week journey to St. Helena to defend a client ... His extraordinary range of writing should not be forgotten. Besides his numerous articles for legal journals, he was the author of many books ... His writing demonstrates not only his erudition but also the breadth of his interests. Alas, not many lawyers or judges share Sir Louis' concern about the literary quality of their writing ... As part of his contribution to justice, I include his Chairmanship of the Press Council ... One of the most difficult and sensitive areas in which to achieve justice arises where the freedom of media and the press come into conflict with the rights of the individual to have his privacy respected ... not only was Sir Louis a distinguished last Chairman of the Press Council, he was responsible for the issue of a Code of Practice which was in some ways the precursor of the Code of the New Press Complaints Commission.' `Louis has also been a great campaigner for law reform. He has many achievements to his credit but I suspect that the cause which was closest to his heart was penal reform. A number of extremely authoritative contributions to this Festschrift therefore focus on some of the areas of reform for which Sir Louis campaigned ... However, it is in connection with the Inquiries that he has conducted that Sir Louis has found the most important outlet for his abundant talents. His creativity, his powers of analysis, his understanding and ability to relate to the public have again and again been called on by the government of the day and other institutions, both in this country and abroad, when matters of great public concern have arisen.' All the distinguished contributors to this Festschrift have known and esteemed Sir Louis in one or more of his multifarious capacities. They and the editors dedicate this volume to this remarkable man with their admiration and warm affection.