Suicide in the U.S. Today

Organized Crime and the Russian Mafia Few observers would have predicted that when President Ronald Reagan implored Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall!" In 1987 that not only would the Berlin Wall be torn down, but the entire Soviet empire would collapse just a few years later. Even fewer observers would likely have predicted that the collapse of the Soviet Union would be followed by an explosion in organized crime.

Many authorities today are quick to argue that this explosion in criminal activity was largely the result of decades of oppression and authoritative rule that left little room for high profile criminal activities which was replaced with a veritable "Wild West" environment in which crime was the career path of choice for aspiring Russian millionaires.

This paper provides a review of the literature concerning the rise of organized crime and the Russian Mafia following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, followed by a summary of the research and important findings concerning these events in the conclusion. Review and Discussion The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in the introduction of numerous persona freedoms and a capitalistic economy in Russia and 14 other former Soviet states (O'Neal, 2000).

An unfortunate concomitant of these fundamental reforms was the emergence of an organized crime element that had simmered for nearly a century under the Soviet government (O'Neal, 2000). According to O'Neal, "In particular, organized crime has proliferated in Russia and now has expanded far beyond the confines of the former Soviet borders" (2000, p. 1).

Today, law enforcement authorities typically refer to all criminal groups that are comprised of members who were originally from any of the former Soviet states including most especially Georgians, Chechens, Ukrainians, and Armenians as "Russian organized crime" (O'Neal, 2000, p. 1). To date, organized crime groups have been created for a wide range of criminal activities drawing on members from numerous ethnic backgrounds to varying degrees (O'Neal, 2000).

For example, O'Neal reports that, "Some groups remain ethnically exclusive, such as the Armenian groups in Los Angeles; most, particularly the large international enterprises, have multiethnic compositions" (2000, p. 1). This is an important finding because it contradicts the portrayal of the Russian Mafia in the mainstream media as being a highly organized, homogeneous operation that transcends national borders.

Despite this lack of precision in definition, some distinguishing characteristics that appear to define the Russia Mafia include a lack of traditional codes of honor and membership rules as well as group members having all lived in a police state in the past (O'Neal, 2000). One of the main problems that is associated with any analysis of organized crime and the Russian Mafia is a paucity of accurate and timely information.

While most authorities agree that the problem of organized crime and the Russia Mafia has become more severe in recent years and the organization has expanded its operations into numerous countries, the actual scope, extent and effect of these operations remains unclear (O'Neal, 2000). According to O'Neal, "Reports of the number, size, and activities of organized-crime groups vary greatly. Much of the information, whether from news agencies or official sources, is often speculative, anecdotal, conflicting, or a combination thereof" (2000, p. 1).

The official reports that have been conducted by the Russian government to date indicate that between 3,000 to 5,000 criminal groups are active in Russia, and U.S. intelligence estimates place the number of major organized crime groups in Russia at about 80 (O'Neal, 2000). In reality, organized crime has a long history in Russia. For instance, by the fin de siecle, organized crime in Russia provided what was essentially a "crooked ladder of social mobility" that facilitated entry into the middle class for Russian Jewish immigrants (Voronin, 2000).

By sharp contrast, Russian immigrants in the West who are participating in organized crime today are being motivated by filthy lucre rather than the luster of upward social mobility (Voronin, 2000). According to Voronin, "Today's Russian emigre criminals are entrepreneurs and scam artists [and] insurance frauds and bootleg gasoline tax frauds are specialties" (2000, p. 571). There are some other differences between organized crime in Russia today and a century ago. For example Voronin adds that, "Criminals show little honor and respect, except that which is inspired by fear" (2000, p. 571).

An important point made by Voronin is that despite their growing presence in the United States, the Russian Mafia has been largely unsuccessful in bribing their way to success. In this regard, Voronin concludes that, "U.S. federal and local governments have actively pursued the 'Russian Mafia,' and there is little evidence of corruption of American officials" (2000, p. 572). Nevertheless, as recently as 2003, Russia Mafia operators in Pennsylvania swindled investors out of as much as $150 million (Wolverton, 2012).

Likewise, the Russian Mafia appears to have enjoyed significant success in ingratiating itself into the local environments in Europe in recent years. For instance, Varese (2011) cites the apparent ease with which the Russian Mafia has been able to launch its operations in Hungary. According to Varese, "The ability of this Russian crime group to impose its protection on traders based in Hungary came to light in November 2003, when four men were arrested by the police with the FBI's help" (2011, p. 92).

Following their arrest, the Russian Mafia members were charged with $10 million in extortion of local businesses and local officials caution that the group has firmly entrenched itself in Hungary (O'Neal, 2011). A final -- an important -- point made by Varese (2006) is that while these organized criminal groups engage in extortion, the practice is not a defining aspect of all such Russia Mafia groups. In fact, various Russian Mafia groups appear to specialize in the provision of criminal protection.