Terrorism, Organised Crime and Corruption: Networks and Linkages

`I congratulate Leslie Holmes and the other contributors to this book. The chapters bring fresh insights and richly theorized findings. Together the authors contribute to an essential moving away from the stereotypical good-guy/bad-guy portrayal of serious criminals. This book is about collusion. Politics, corporate conspiracies, national security and military empires, opportunity, vast illicit resources, ambiguous or impossible "rules" and the complicity of the public all result in the growth of organized crime, corruption, and terrorism. As the title suggests, it is the linkages among these three types of crimes and the linkages between criminals and "legitimate" citizens that must be dissected for better-informed policy-making and potentially greater security.'- Margaret Beare, Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security, Osgoode Hall Law School, Toronto, Canada `In making connections between the three types of crime - terrorism, organized crime and corruption - this wide-ranging collection of essays is path breaking. Each chapter contains new insights and new information; as a whole, the collection is masterfully brought together by the editor, Leslie Holmes, who, always careful not to claim too much for the linkages between the three categories of crimes, makes a persuasive concluding argument for corporate crime to be added to the three forms of criminality. This collection brings the darker side of politics out of the shadows and into the foreground and highlights the importance in the fight against terrorism and organized crime of the state being able to trust its own officers.' - Rosemary H.T. O'Kane, University of Keele, UK `Leslie Holmes' edited book is a fascinating and wide-ranging collection on the interface between terrorism, organised crime, corruption, legitimate businesses, and local communities. The cases range from Australia, to Russia, to the Netherlands and focus on the complex links between the economic motives of corrupt officials and organized criminals, on the one hand, and terrorists, on the other. The result is a sobering look at a growing problem and a plea for more research into linkages often left unexplored by narrow specialists. It should set the agenda for future research that crosses disciplinary boundaries and tackles the difficult empirical challenges.'- Susan Rose-Ackerman, Yale University, US Leslie Holmes and a team of specialists from three continents analyze terrorism, organized crime and corruption both individually and in terms of the connections between them. It is argued that if we are better to understand these three phenomena, their links not only to each other but also to corporate crime need to be analyzed. There has been a marked growth in the awareness of corruption, organized crime and terrorism in recent years, especially since the end of the Cold War. Yet the linkages and resonances between these three forms of anti-social and anti-state behavior are still not sufficiently recognised. Leslie Holmes and his fellow contributors analyze all three phenomena in concert to explain why it has taken so long for states, international organizations and the public to begin to appreciate the interplay between them. It is demonstrated that, while the recent growing awareness of connections between these three types of crime is welcome, there is also a fourth player that must sometimes be considered; transnational corporations. Although the book focuses mainly on Europe, Australia and the US, much of the analysis and theorizing has global relevance. This timely book will appeal to advanced undergraduates and postgraduates in political science, international relations, international political economy, security studies and criminology.