Committee: Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice
Topic: International Approach to Organized Crime
Delegation: Russian Federation
Highland Park High School
Ben Leibowitz-Lord
In the past, organized crime has always remained within its national, and thus has rarely existed on the international level that it exists as today. The so-called “Russian Mafia” has increasingly functioned as an international organization since the fall of the Soviet Union in
1991. Russian organized crime grew due to the vast unemployment and it spread throughout the world due to the emigration out of the failed state. In addition, the economic power of Russia’s organized crime increased exponentially when Soviet land became privatized (Finkenauer 7).
The privatization of state property that began in Russia in 1992—when public property began to be sold to private investors—both expanded and solidified the complex relationship that had developed between the state and organized crime. Because of its connections to officialdom and to the shadow economy, organized crime took part in what has become the lucrative scheme of privatization. As a result, the assets controlled by organized crime give it enormous economic power, and thus political power as well. (Finkenauer 7)
When completely simplified, there are two components of organized crime (Finkenauer
4). One of these is a desire for power, and the other is a demand (especially a demand for items that are illegal or limited by the government) (Finkenauer 4). However, there are numerous conditions that are required in order for organized crime to survive. One of the overall incentives for crime is to fill unmet demand (Finkenauer 3). Generally, a nation’s crime rate is directly

proportional to organized crime, since they are influenced by the same factors, such as industrialization and social disorganization (Finkenauer 3). In addition, the more elaborate the crime, the more organized it naturally needs to become. Finally, organized crime especially thrives when the government is weak or corrupt, which undeniably exists in Russia. In fact
“Contemporary Russian organized crime grew out of the Soviet ‘nomenklatura’ system in which…(government bureaucrats) developed mutually beneficial personal relationships with the thieves world. In fact, the highest levels of the hierarchy of the Russian mafias are the corrupt government officials. Unlike organized crime in other countries, such as Italy, Russian organized crime is not centered on ethnicity or family, it is based on economy and is intertwined with the government (Finkenauer 5).
For Russia, the immediate concern is the semi-corrupt government. Besides the government’s involvement in organized crime for decades, post-soviet privatization of land resulted in criminal organizations gaining economic power, which in turn has given them political power. The complication of a corrupt government attempting to rid itself of corruption is self-explanatory. However, there have been numerous efforts by the Russian government to reduce its self-corruption, particularly by President Medvedev, who is openly against corruption
(Kuznetsov). Medvedev supports a modernization of Russian economy, which means that it would be less consumerist and more innovative. With an economy based on innovation, the criminal organizations, which thrive on consumerism, would not only deteriorate, but would no longer have the vast economic power they have today. Therefore the government would have much less incentive to support these criminal organizations (Frolov 1).
Even with the enormous obstacle of corruption still yet to be overcome, Russia has already taken action against organized crime at the national and international level. In 1996,

Russia added Article 210, titled Organization of Criminal Society, to its Criminal Code
(Firestone 60). The article “criminalizes the creation of or participation in criminal society
(criminal organizations)” (Firestone 60). Legislations such as Article 210 are necessary in the fight against organized crime, for obvious reasons. If a crime is made illegal, it is easier to convict someone who committed that crime. In addition, Russia has ratified the United Nations
Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNCTOC), which is a significant international legislation that combats organized crime.
In Russia, there are numerous obstacles that need to be overcome before there is a clear path to take further actions against organized crime. However, Russia has proved to be open to
UN legislations against organized crime, such as UNCTOC, and to pass legislations at the national level.

Works Cited
Finkenauer, JO. "The threat of Russian Organized Crime." United State Department of Justice.
Jun 2001. United States Department of Justice, Web. 8 Oct 2009.
Firestone, Thomas. "What Russia Must do to Fight Organized Crime." Demokratizatsiya Winter
2006: 59-65. Web. 8 Oct 2009.
<www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/187085.pdf>.
Frolov, Vladimir, Vladimir Balaeff, Stephen Blank, Ethan Burger, and Sergei Roy. "Russia
Profile Weekly Experts Panel: Medvedev’s Appeal to the Nation." Russian Profile. 18
Sep 2009. Web. 8 Oct 2009.
<http://www.russiaprofile.org/page.php?pageid=Experts%27+Panel&articleid=a1253292373>.
Kuznetsov, Alexei. "Fighting Corruption, Russian Style." CBS News. 22 Jul 2006. CBS, Web. 8
Oct 2009. <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/22/world/main5179949.shtml>.