RT Article
T1 Illicit markets, weak states and violence: Iraq and Mexico
JF Crime, law and social change
VO 52
IS 3
SP 323
OP 336
A1 Williams, Phil 1948-
LA English
YR 2009
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/188157721X
AB This article focuses on drug trafficking violence in Mexico and on those elements of the violence in Iraq which are related to competition for the control over smuggling of oil and other largely licit commodities. It suggests that the broader context is critical, while the nature of the commodity - and in particular whether it is prohibited or simply a legal commodity that is stolen and diverted to both domestic and international black markets - is not the major determinant of the level of violence. Both Mexico and Iraq suffer from transitional violence (arrangements for criminal activity which were dominated by the state have broken down), are characterized by anomie and a culture of lawlessness, have a surfeit of specialists in violence along with the ready availability of weapons, and are afflicted by high levels of corruption. In Mexico the violence has centered around the control of drug routes and strategic warehouses on the Mexico-United States border as well as control of local retail markets; in the southern province of Basra in Iraq the violence has centered on control of oil smuggling. While some of the violence has targeted state authorities it also reflects the fragmentation of criminal organizations.
NO Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 335-336
K1 Criminal Activity
K1 Criminal Organization
K1 Drug Trafficker
K1 Drug Trafficking
K1 Organize Crime
DO 10.1007/s10611-009-9194-0