Essay on The Russian Mob - 4523 Words

The Russian Mob: Organized Crime in a Fledgling Democracy Since the late 1980’s the Russian people have experienced one of the most drastic transitions seen in the world to date, a transition from an attempt at communism to a workable capitalist system. As one would expect, this transition has not been painless and has been the impetus of many distressing problems for the Russian people. One such problem is organized crime. This paper will explore how organized crime during Soviet rule and the Russian Federation has created obstacles in this transition to a functioning market economy. It will illustrate how organized crime has done this by analyzing its transition from the USSR to the Russian Federation, the reasons behind its†¦show more content†¦This expansion was aided by perestroika’s opening up of market opportunities. In Leningrad, as much as 90% of the cooperatives produced by the liberal policies of perestroika were deeply involved with organized crime (Anderson, 1995, 352). The extensiveness of organize d crime in the USSR is quite apparent when one examines such numbers, but the more important question is what was inherent in the USSR that facilitated such crime and how this later affected organized crime in the Russian Federation. Two characteristics of the USSR were integral in the development of a powerful organized crime syndicate. These were an â€Å"excessive bureaucratic power† and the presence of illegal markets (Anderson, 1995, 347). This excessive bureaucratic power facilitated organized crime by providing a â€Å"basis for corruption, bribery, shakedowns, and extortion† (Anderson, 1995, 346). These were no small problems either. According to the All-Union Research Institute of the Soviet Interior Ministry in 1991, about half of the income of the average government employee consisted of bribes (Sterling, 1994, 93). However, the presence of illegal markets was even more essential to the existence of a mafia in the USSR. Everyone is aware that illegal markets such as alcohol during the prohibition period or drugs today elicit organized crime, yet this association was unique in the USSR. In the USSR, every form of economic transaction that did not involve the governmentShow MoreRel atedThe Italian Mob And The Russian Mafia1323 Words   |  6 PagesWhen people think of organized crime they think of the Italian mob and the Russian mafia. They are the ones that they see in movies and on television, and the ones that they hear about the most. However, they were created a couple centuries after their Asian counterparts, the Yakuza in Japan, and the Triads in China. These Asian syndicates were founded in the sixteenth and seventeenth century and consisted of merchants and other people in what was basically the middle class. They were just groupsRead MoreThe Witness Protection Program and Abandoning Mafioso Lifestyle2212 Words   |  9 Pagescustomer to the next. There is no boss constantly looking over your shoulder: you must be self-motivated to increase your sales figures, and can tailor your pitch to the personality of the client. The same resourcefulness that served the goals of mob bosses can now serve your own professional aspirations. Personality profile: Andrew Honest, intelligent, dedicated Although Andrew was a member of the mafia, he entered into family life at a relatively low level. He was a foot soldier ratherRead MoreEssay on Nicholas I1278 Words   |  6 Pagessentenced many others to hard labor in Siberia. Later in 1830 Europe went through some revolutionary crises. The youth of Poland had been restless since July 1830. The fever rose greatly when they heard that the Polish army was to march with the Russians to crush the revolution and prevent the Belgians from acquiring their independence. On the night of November 29, a conspiracy of young cadets seized the residence of the Grand Duke Konstantin, the brother of the Tsar. The rebels demanded a constitutionRead MoreBook Report on The New Ethnic Mob by William Kleinknecht Essay1470 Words   |  6 PagesBook Report on The New Ethnic Mob by William Kleinknecht The New Ethic Mob by William Kleinknecht explores how the current criminals involved in organized crime are no longer just the Italians. He could be Cuban, Chinese, Russian, African-American, Haitian, or Jamaican. These are the new breed of more sophisticated and more brutal organized criminals. In the preface of the book Kleinknecht states not to mistake this work for a case against immigration in the UnitedRead MoreThe Right Of Selling Articles1399 Words   |  6 Pagesarea after partitions of Poland (1772, 1793, and 1795) Territorial divisions of Poland by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Unequal Punishment Jews were liable for more severe punishments than non-Jews for committing the same offenses. Pogroms Pogrom (Russian: to destroy. In 1880–1885, the word took on a specific meaning in Yiddish: a government authorized, but not organized, riot against Jews that destroyed enormous amounts of property and produced some casualties. In Balta, in the 1890’s, an eyeRead MoreThe Dark Knight Is Not A Superhero Movie1224 Words   |  5 PagesDC universe. Nolan portrays a hyper realistic Batman that is limited to mostly technology that we have in our real world. Batman makes his first appearance in a parking garage. The Russian mob is negotiating a drug deal with the scarecrow. The sale is interrupted when some batman imposters begin firing at the Russian mob. The real Batman arrives on the scene and bends the rifle of the Batman imposters and knocks him out. This is actually quite a surprise that he knocked out an innocent person. NormallyRead MoreThe Assassination Of John F. Kennedy1626 Words   |  7 Pagesthe Soviet Union with his Russian-born wife Marina. Both the Warren Commission and the House Committee on Assassinations found little evidence to support a Soviet-backed operation, but one former KGB agent came out years later to say the Russians played a role in the plot. The Mafia did it This much we know is true, the CIA had contacts with organized crime families to discuss assassinating the president. Only the president was Cuba s Fidel Castro, not Kennedy. The mob was heavily invested in casinosRead MoreKarl Marx and The Russian Revolution Essay example967 Words   |  4 PagesKarl Marx, a German philosopher, is known for his revolutionary political ideas during the Russian Revolution. He established the idea of â€Å"materialist conception of history†, meaning how society and the economy is organized is determined by changes material conditions. He published this thesis in his manuscript called The German Ideology. While writing The German Ideology, Marx also joined the Communist League, an international proletarian organization, and wrote a polemic against P.J. Proudhon’sRead More Mafia Essay1422 Words   |  6 Pagesareas of crime. During this research paper I will discuss three aspects of the Mafia which are crime, structure and decline in lead ership. The Mob siphons off public funds, rigs contracts, corrupts unions which many hard working people with legitimate jobs are a part of, smuggles drugs, and runs illegal gambling rings. These are some of the ways the Mob negatively affects our community and harms innocent citizens. Any illegal activity that brings in big money the Mafia is part of. Union corruptionRead MoreThe Russian Revolution And The Soviet Revolution Essay1196 Words   |  5 Pagesto Soviets: The Russian People and Their Revolution, 1917-21. London: UCL Press, 1996. Read, Christopher. From Tsar to Soviets: The Russian People and Their Revolution, 1917-21. London: UCL Press, 1996. pp. 6, 63. Christopher Read, the author of the book From Tsar to Soviets: The Russian People and Their Revolution, 1917-21, is a professor at the University of Warwick in Europe. Read teaches twentieth-century European history. He specializes in the social history of the Russian Revolution and the