Yuliya Zabyelina

‘Buying Peace’ in Chechnya: Challenges of Post-Conflict Reconstruction in The Public Sector

Whereas there seems to be a consensus on the importance of social services for the success of peacebuilding efforts, the role of corruption in the public sector remains ambiguous. On the one hand, conventional interpretations of the role of corruption in the aftermath of conflict suggest that corruption impedes a successful war-to-peace transition. On the other hand, corruption may be necessary to the survival of ordinary citizens by reinforcing economic efficiency and helping them to gain access to basic social services. This article studies various aspects of post-conflict reconstruction in Chechnya with a particular focus on corruption in in the public sector. It argues that Moscows strategy of soothing the insurgency in the North Caucasus with generous financial injections has brought some stability at least in the sense of absence of large-scale violence. Despite these seemingly positive results, sweeping corruption in the public sector is likely to undermine the effectiveness of post-conflict reconstruction and development projects in Chechnya in the long run, in this way increasing the likelihood of post-conflict Chechen society sliding back into public discontent and violence.

Costs and benefits of informal economy: shuttle trade and crime at Cherkizovsky market

According to IMF and OSCE reports, informal economic transactions in Russia and other states of the former Communist Bloc have cushioned the shocks of economic and political transition of the 1990s by quickly satisfying the consumer demand and providing unofficial jobs to the population faced with transition recession. As these analyses extensively emphasise the advantages of informal entrepreneurship and its positive contribution to stimulating economic growth, this article explores the phenomenon of shuttle trade – a system/form of informal trade outside state control that does not comply with state regulations – as an issue of concern for criminologists. This article investigates the convergence of shuttle trade and criminal activities and the relationship of shuttle trade to the formal regulatory environment. It offers insights into selected criminal activities at Cherkizovsky market in Moscow before its shutdown in 2009 and an evaluation of the policymaking decisions the shutdown triggered.

Energy and conflict: Security outsourcing in the protection of critical energy infrastructures

Attacks on oil and gas infrastructures by terrorists and criminals in places like Nigeria, Colombia, Iraq and Russia have amplified the vulnerability of critical energy infrastructures (CEIs) to deliberate physical attacks. Being unable or unwilling to protect CEIs, many national governments have made attempts to alleviate these vulnerabilities through outsourcing of security, i.e. contracting the responsibility to protect CEIs out to non-state actors. This article advocates the need to conceptualize security outsourcing in the domain of critical energy infrastructure protection (CEIP) in order to explain a variety of regulatory choices made by governments in this domain. Based on a qualitative analysis of four case studies, the article discusses various types of security outsourcing in the protection of CEIs, including the militarization of national oil companies, public–private partnerships and the involvement of international organizations and local social groups. The typology may serve as a tool of describing, classifying and evaluating various forms of security outsourcing. The findings of the article help to deconstruct the complexity of security outsourcing and capture some of the major contemporary trends in energy security.

Can criminals create opportunities for crime? Malvertising and illegal online medicine trade

Opportunity theories suggest that the occurrence of an offence depends on the presence of a motivated offender and a specific condition in the environment that presents an opportunity for crime. While offenders may be able to choose among crime opportunities, the question is whether they can create new crime opportunities. Based on a qualitative analysis of court cases, investigative reports and the news media, this article examines the genesis of crime opportunities by looking into the malicious online advertising (malvertising) of substandard, spurious, falsely labelled, falsified and counterfeit (SSFFC) medical products. While further research on this topic is needed, the findings of the article help to understand the importance of unsavoury advertising as a tool that perpetrators use to manipulate consumer demand and proactively create (or expand) criminal markets.

Reverse money laundering in Russia: clean cash for dirty ends

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of and comment on various aspects of reverse money laundering, whereby, instead of “washing” criminal proceeds to make them legal, legitimate funds are withdrawn from formal circulation and pumped into the informal sector to evade taxes, hand in bribes, pay “under-the-table” salaries and sidestep paperwork. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is divided into two parts. The theoretical part reviews the relevant academic literature and discusses the role of cash as a dominant medium of exchange in the underground economy. The empirical part is grounded on a qualitative analysis of several case studies of fraudulent encashment schemes all of which illustrate how reverse money laundering works. Findings – The findings suggest that fraudulent encashment, a type of reverse money laundering, is performed via bank and non-bank institutions. Importantly, methods and techniques used in conventional forms of money laundering are also used in reverse m...

Chaos, Violence, Dynasty: Politics and Islam in Central Asia

paying attention to the extent of change and stability in party politics. Basing their research on expert surveys the authors argue that parties in Eastern Europe ‘match the synthetic approach’ (p. 162) by ‘maintain[ing] stability on issues and respond[ing] dynamically to changing circumstances during integration’ (p. 168). Batory’s chapter is interesting, with the more theoretical approach of the author who critically analyses the EU (pp. 15–22) as a unique and powerful source of change. In this chapter the researcher insists, supported by Szczerbiak and Bil (p. 53), on the necessity ‘to look for EU-related effects only when “regular” domestic political factors fail to explain empirical developments satisfactorily’ (p. 16). No doubt a useful remark, since there clearly exists the danger that an overwhelming focus on the Europeanisation of political parties could lead to an extrapolation of the EU’s role. The following case-study chapters confirm Batory’s position regarding the EU’s limited role in political parties’ development. When evaluating the EU’s impact on national party systems, the authors unanimously claim that the ‘EU has had little significant direct impact’ (p. 51) and characterise Europe as being ‘assimilated successfully into the logic of domestic party politics’ (p. 52) by playing ‘only a side role in party politics’ (p. 96). Having accepted in common that ‘the EU has appeared to be force mineure that affects party politics only indirectly’ (p. 58) the researchers proceed to an exploration of the indirect EU impact as revealed in party programmes and manifestos, party statuses and trans-national party relations. Here again most of the findings are not encouraging with regards to the EU’s role in party transformations. The impact on party organisation is described as ‘rather minimal’ (p. 43), and ‘minor’ (p. 88); on party programmes as ‘low’ (see Table Two, p. 9); and the role of trans-national party cooperation as ‘not . . . especially significant’ (p. 48). According to the authors the EU is still regarded by voters in countries such as Estonia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic as a foreign policy issue and ‘an actor external to the domestic political arena’ (p. 118). Thus, in their chapter about Slovakia, Haughton and Rybar state: ‘Although we acknowledge that an insufficient period of time has elapsed for us to draw definitive conclusions, our preliminary analysis of party politics in the first four years of membership suggests EU entry has had a limited impact on party politics in Slovakia’ (p. 148). This is a conclusion that without doubt can be applied to other countries examined in the volume. Tim Haughton’s book is an important contribution to the literature on the Europeanisation of national political parties. It not only describes in detail the characteristics of the EU’s impact on political parties in the countries in question shortly before and right after their accession to the EU, but it is itself an extended source of information that undoubtedly can better the understanding of these countries’ current political situations. These two aspects make the volume very helpful for academic researchers, students and practitioners.

Political Science and Crime

The study of crime in political science may seem a misfit at first sight because crime has conventionally been the principal object of such disciplines as criminology and criminal justice. A closer look at political science scholarship, however, reveals a few tendencies that highlight the significance of research on crime as an area of interest for political scientists. Due to its theoretical vibrancy and methodological sophistication, political science scholarship has great potential to contribute to the cumulative body of knowledge about the nature of delinquency and societys varied responses to it. Keywords: crime; criminal justice; criminology; government; political science

Russian Politics. The Paradox of a Weak State

against Soviet and Mongolian forces in the area of the disputed border (p. 149). Whilst the Japanese military leaders may have believed in the traditional importance of ‘spirit’ being of paramount importance in battle—at the same time, whilst also deluding themselves dangerously into thinking that the Red Army soldier lacked the will to fight hard—at the end of the day, the outcome of Khalkin Gol was decided by a combination of factors, not least being the material support which was available to the Red Army and Mongolian forces operating in the area, but not to the Japanese: as Goldman points out, the Kwantung Army had a grand total of 800 trucks at its disposal, the Red Army had over 4,000 available (p. 133). One of the other factors in the Red Army’s crushing victory over the Japanese was the arrival of the newly promoted commander of the Red Army’s First Army Group, G. K. Zhukov. Thus, the consequences, as Goldman himself points out, of the USSR’s victory at Nomonhan were both immediate and of a long-term nature. In summary form, Goldman argues that the threat of the USSR now having to face a two-front war, in the event of Nazi Germany declaring war against the USSR in the future, was now virtually gone (p. 160). Given its crushing defeat at the hands of the Red Army in the East, Imperial Japan was extremely unlikely to launch an attack against the USSR in support of its German ally. In conjunction with this, given the fact that the Japanese had been so roundly defeated in the north, greater attention was paid by the militarists in Japan towards the south, particularly in relation to the empires of Britain and France in Asia, as well as the USA (p. 169). Finally, Zhukov’s own performance in mastering the defeat of the Japanese at Khalkin Gol strengthened the belief of the future Marshal of the Soviet Union in his own ability and confidence to fight and win against difficult odds (p. 166). Thus, one can only guess as to what the medium to longterm outcome would have been not only for the balance of power in Asia, but also for the balance of power in Europe, had the Red Army not won the battle at Nomonhan. Given that, once again, talk of ‘limited war’ never seems to be far from the mouths of many, Goldman’s final conclusion to his work has an interesting, almost coded, ring to it: ‘if there is truth to the old adage that war is too serious a matter to be entrusted to generals, then the Nomonhan incident suggests that this is especially true of limited war, which by definition has larger non-military components’ (p. 182).

Multilateral Security and ESDP Operations by Fulvio Attiná and Daniela Irrera (eds). Ashgate: Farnham, 2010. 207pp., £57.00, ISBN 978 1409407072

the battlefield, and how we should deal with them if they commit unethical actions while serving in combat. It should be noted here, though, that one major topic seems to pass without much discussion: the responsibility to provide psychological support for soldiers after they have returned to civilian life. C. A. J. Coady addresses this topic briefly in his discussion of jus post bellum, but it would seem that more attention should be paid to how a society should take care of the often damaged psyches of returning combatants. Despite this gap, what is particularly useful in this section is the discussion of the role of situational factors in our assessment of the moral behaviours of battlefield combatants, brought home nicely in this quote from James Waller in Tripodi’s essay: ‘Mainstream social psychology has long believed that what really matters is not who you are, but where you are’ (p. 203). Once these insights from social psychology are seriously considered, we may come to realise that the ‘fog of war’ is more problematic than anticipated.

Book Review: International Relations: Multilateral Security and ESDP Operations:

the battlefield, and how we should deal with them if they commit unethical actions while serving in combat. It should be noted here, though, that one major topic seems to pass without much discussion: the responsibility to provide psychological support for soldiers after they have returned to civilian life. C. A. J. Coady addresses this topic briefly in his discussion of jus post bellum, but it would seem that more attention should be paid to how a society should take care of the often damaged psyches of returning combatants. Despite this gap, what is particularly useful in this section is the discussion of the role of situational factors in our assessment of the moral behaviours of battlefield combatants, brought home nicely in this quote from James Waller in Tripodi’s essay: ‘Mainstream social psychology has long believed that what really matters is not who you are, but where you are’ (p. 203). Once these insights from social psychology are seriously considered, we may come to realise that the ‘fog of war’ is more problematic than anticipated.