SOC ACE Newsletter

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We hope that your start to 2024 is going well. With the new year, we bring fresh research to address the challenges we face in addressing organised crime, illicit finance, kleptocracy and corruption. In this month’s newsletter, you’ll find news on:

  • The impact of the Taliban's return on Afghanistan's opium trade in Helmand and Nangarhar provinces 

  • Analysing the nexus between paramilitaries, illicit economies and organised crime in borderland and frontier regions in Afghanistan, Myanmar and Colombia

  • Illicit financial flows in East and Southern Africa and the Mekong 

  • SOC-related sanctions and political will

  • Building new SOC metrics for improved accountability in Medellín, Colombia

  • Testing a new framework on organised crime as irregular warfare

  • The consequences of organised crime and illegal trade displacement on Eurasia as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine, including Kazakhstan, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine itself

New SOC ACE Research

Assessing the effectiveness of sanctions as a tool to disrupt serious organised crime


Cathy Haenlein at RUSI heads a research team in the second phase of her targeted sanctions and SOC project, focusing on political will. This phase examines factors influencing political will to support SOC-related sanctions, such as alignment with domestic and foreign policy goals, geopolitical considerations, targeting strategy, domestic capacity, and clarity on ‘sanctions’ objectives. The study analyses these dynamics in both sanction-sending states/multilaterals and in the home states of individuals targeted by SOC-related sanctions. Read more.

Developing government information and accountability systems for combating serious organized crime: Medellín demonstration project


Professor Chris Blattman is in the second phase of developing government information and accountability systems for combatting SOC in Colombia. With SOC ACE funding, he's building on findings from phase one to demonstrate the feasibility of collecting a wide range of metrics on SOC and establishing an annual cycle of metrics measurement and monitoring in Medellin. Findings in this phase will inform the design of anti-extortion interventions and form a baseline experimental evaluation of such interventions. Read more.

Organised crime as irregular warfare: a framework for assessment and strategic response


This month, Dr David Ucko and Dr Thomas Marks from the National Defense University are advancing their research on applying their analytical framework for irregular warfare to SOC issues. In the project's second phase, they're exploring ways to test the framework with policy makers and practitioners on SOC issues, enabling further iteration of the framework’s utility. Read more.

Exploring the Consequences of Organised Crime and Illegal Trade Displacement on Eurasia


Dr Alexander Kupatadze (KCL) and Dr Erica Marat (NDU) are in the second phase of their project, building on their findings from “Under the radar: How Russia outmanoeuvres Western sanctions with help from its neighbours.” They're now investigating the intricacies of crime displacement, changes in organised crime, and new forms of criminal activity resulting from Russia’s war against Ukraine, in neighbouring Kazakhstan, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine itself. The research also explores the diverse effects of sanctions, scrutinising the impact on elite bargains and the state-crime nexus in these focal countries. Read more.

SOC ACE Updates

  • Last month Dr David H. Ucko & Dr Thomas A. Marks came to London to meet with policy teams working on organised crime and irregular warfare in order to share their new framework and to explore potential areas for future collaboration.

  • Matthew Redhead (RUSI) met with policy teams to present a mid-point briefing on his research examining state threats, with a focus on current significance of state threats, definitions, counter measures and responses.

  • GI-TOCs Felipe Botero Escobar and his team, presented initial findings from their research on Colombia’s Total Peace policy to local government in Medellín. The project assesses policy implementation at local and national levels, identifying urgent organised crime-related issues in the city. The team are using findings from their research to enhancing local governments capabilities for addressing these issues to ensure security in the Medellín region.

  • Dr Tena Prelec (University of Rijeka) joined a discussion on The Global Anti-Corruption Podcast ‘KickBack, to discuss “Professional enablers and transnational corruption: How can standards be raised”. Discussants included Professor Liz Dávid-Barrett (Centre for the Study of Corruption), Professor Robert Barrington (Centre for the Study of Corruption), and Guy Beringer KC (Hon) (Chair of the Taskforce on Business Ethics and the Legal Profession)

  • SOC ACE were honoured to be a partner in RUSI’s inaugural Serious and Organised Crime Conference 2023, organised by RUSI’s Organised Crime & Policing Group along with the National Crime Agency. Professor Heather Marquette (University of Birmingham) joined a panel to discuss "Collaborative Approaches in SOC Case Studies and Best Practices". Other panel members included Dr Rajan Basra (Kings College London), Dr Phininder Balaghan (QinetiQ) and Dr Bill Merrill (National Crime Agency). There were also contributions from SOC ACE researchers from RUSI, including Cathy Haenlein, Dr Liam O’Shea and Matthew Redhead. 

Before you get stuck into this months’ latest publications, see here for a list of SOC ACE research from 2023.

Latest SOC ACE Publications

Other related news


RUSI’s Maria Nizzero recently published emerging insights onExploring Mechanisms for the Return of Proceeds of Corruption; and also joined a panel on “Righting the Wrong: Tools for Asset Recovery in Global Corruption Cases”. The panel was organised by the Basel Institute on Governance at the Conference of State Parties to the UNCAC in Atlanta, and discussed the use of several tools (including sanctions) in asset recovery cases.

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SOC ACE Research 2023