EVENTS
Virtual Event: Russia’s Economic Occupation of Ukraine: New insights into Russia’s strategies in the occupied territories
Russia's Economic Occupation of Ukraine: New insights into Russia's strategies in the occupied territories
David Lewis will introduce a new report showing how Russia is using economic and financial tools to consolidate its control of occupied Ukrainian territory. Russia has seized many Ukrainian businesses and assets and distributed them to its allies. Ukrainian companies have been forced to pay Russian taxes, use Russian banks and sell their produce to Russian buyers. Meanwhile, Russian business has been profiting from a massive reconstruction campaign in Mariupol and other towns destroyed in the invasion. Russia's economic actions in the occupied territories involve potential war crimes and deserve much closer international attention. Please note: this event time is Eastern Time (ET) local to Washington DC. The event will begin at 5pm British Summer Time (BST).
GI-TOC OC24 Virtual Event: Monitoring the evolution of illicit economies in Afghanistan
Monitoring the evolution of illicit economies in Afghanistan
Since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, the potential future for illicit economies and organised crime within the country and the region more broadly has been in flux. In collaboration with the University of Birmingham, the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) has been developing a new infrastructure for monitoring the evolution of illicit markets and the political economy in Afghanistan and the region more broadly.
New dynamics in illicit economies and conflict after the Russian invasion of Ukraine: implications for power, politics & the role of research
SOC ACE-sponsored workshop at the 2023 Conflict Research Society (CRS) Annual Conference
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, there has been extensive, and at times overwhelming albeit wholly understandable, policy and media focus on the military aspects of the conflict. Less well understood, however, are the dynamics of illicit financial flows, corruption and serious organised crime that are also highly significant. In different ways, the pre-war political economies of both Russia and Ukraine were characterised by endemic, high-level corruption and susceptibility to organised crime. Wartime changes in these dynamics will have impacts far beyond the immediate conflict zone, including on the shifting political economy of crime in the region and the political relationships and dynamics that are necessary for sustainable peace.
This half-day workshop (by invitation) will provide a forum in which to discuss new research findings, map knowledge gaps and discuss new approaches to researching the illicit economies of conflict. It aims to improve our knowledge and understanding of these issues; to provide an opportunity for researchers – including those at early career level – to build links with policymakers and practitioners; and to identify potential opportunities for future collaboration and learning.
40th Cambridge Symposium, Plenary Workshop 41: Exploring mechanisms for the recovery of the proceeds of kleptocracy
The Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime first convened as a result of widespread concern is a unique international platform that makes a real difference to the control of economically relevant crime and misconduct across the world. As part of the symposium this plenary, will discuss alternative asset recovery mechanisms that can help address the immediate policy goal surrounding Russian-linked sanctioned assets and contribute to strengthening the broader asset recovery framework.
Making anti-corruption real: how to stop wasting money and start making progress
If a policy adversely affects powerful individuals and organisations, we shouldn’t be surprised when they try to block or distort its implementation. In developing countries where the rule of law is weak, policies may also be blocked in informal or corrupt ways.
Making anti-corruption real means understanding these processes and ensuring that every anti-corruption strategy has built-in incentives so that actors with the ability to implement these strategies will do so in their own interest.
Please note: event time is local Jakarta (WIB) time
Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) Annual Conference: Incorporating serious organised crime into understandings of elite bargains/political settlements
This panel delves into the topic of organised crime and took place during the 36th Annual ACUNS Meeting in Washington DC, where the theme was focussed on 'Making, Keeping, and Sustaining Peace.'
‘How to seize a billion’, Ukrainian Canadian Bar Association (UCBA) in partnership with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress
In this timely and relevant seminar, we will discuss alternative asset recovery mechanisms that can help address the immediate policy goal surrounding Russian-linked sanctioned assets and contribute to strengthening the broader asset recovery framework.
From freeze to seize: exploring mechanisms to recover the proceeds of kleptocracy
‘From freeze to seize: exploring mechanisms to recover the proceeds of kleptocracy’, Hybrid: Online/10-11 Carlton Terrace, London, 24 November 2022