Previous Events Hosted

2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004

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Previous Events Hosted - 2008

March 2008

• On Thursday, March  27, TraCCC in collaboration with the Focus on Central Asia Program organized an event entitled "Human Trafficking in Central Asia: The Case of Kyrgyzstan", featuring four visiting professionals from Kyrgyzstan who provide victims' assistance and influence policy to combat human trafficking. Presenters included Mr. Kanatbek Osmonov of the Osh City Migration Service, Mr. Igor Shugalskiy of the Federal Procuracy of Kyrgyzstan, Ms. Ainura Usupbekova of the NGO "Elsen" and Mr. Talaaibek Abdraimov of the NGO "Podruga".

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Previous Events Hosted - 2007

December 2007

• On Thursday, December 13, TraCCC organized an event entitled "Human Trafficking from Southern Russia", featuring four visiting law enforcement officials and academics from Russia's volatile southwestern region who work on various aspects of addressing Russia's human trafficking problems and assisting its victims.

October 2007

• On Tuesday, October 16, TraCCC hosted a book launch event entitled featuring the authors of Merchant of Death, which chronicles the inner workings of Russian arms dealer Victor Bout's transnational arms trade organization, as well as oft-thwarted attempts by U.S. officials and international investigators to quell his operations. Douglas Farah, former Washington Post West Africa Bureau Chief, and Stephen Braun, Los Angeles Times National correspondent, discussed their exhaustive research into this case and the many questions left unanswered as to Victor Bout's ability to avoid arrest and prosecution.

• On Wednesday, October 24, TraCCC organized an event entitled "Combating Modern-Day Slavery in Russia", featuring four visiting Russian law enforcement officials and academics who work on various aspects of addressing Russia's human trafficking problems and assisting its victims.

• On Tuesday, October 30, TraCCC hosted a book launch event entitled "Is Everything Coming Up Roses? Georgia's Battle with Organized Crime and Corruption following the 2003 Revolution". The event featured TraCCC Director Dr. Louise Shelley and former TraCCC Georgia Program Managers Erik Scott and Anthony Latta, who co-edited TraCCC's newest volume in its Routledge Publications series entitled Organized Crime and Corruption in Georgia, which examines the most enduring aspects of organized crime and corruption in Georgia and the most important reforms since the Rose Revolution.

April 2007
• On Monday, April 23, TraCCC hosted a presentation by Dr. Anna Jonsson, Assistant Professor, Department of Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University, and Project Director, Constitution Developments and Human Rights at the Silk Road Studies Program. Dr. Jonsson’s presentation was entitled "Fighting Human Trafficking in Northern Europe: Is Demand Reduction Feasible?"

• TraCCC, in partnership with the Chelyabinsk NGO, Women's Commonwealth, hosted an anti-trafficking training for local and regional law enforcement and NGO officials at the South Ural State University in Chelyabinsk, Russia on March 16-17. This training was one of ten trainings being implemented by TraCCC across Russia in early 2007 as part of a US State Department sponsored anti-trafficking program.

• On March 19, TraCCC-Chelyabinsk and Dr. Louise Shelley hosted a roundtable event on "Organized Crime and Corruption in the Ural Region." The event took place at TraCCC's Chelyabinsk Center at the South Ural State University.

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Previous Events Hosted - 2006

December 2006
• On December 6, members of TraCCC's DC headquarters staff met with UNODC Goodwill Ambassador for Human Trafficking, Ms. Julia Ormond. The meeting focused on an analysis of human trafficking as a security issue. Further information on Ms. Ormond's brief can be found on the UNODC website.

November 2006
• TraCCC PhD student, Carmen Apaza, received a grant from the National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan. Carmen and four other graduate students from all over the world were part of the "Global Young Elites Summit on Technology, Policy and Management", held in Taipei from 26-30 November 2006. As part of the Young Elites, she lead a conference and presented a paper (which will be published) entitled, "Public Management Challenge: Ensuring Accountability and Controlling Corruption."

An NPR discussion of the 2006 Baker-Hamilton report on Iraq also cited an article of Mr. Wahab's, dealing with insurgent financing. The show can be heard via streaming audio.

• On September 26, Dr. Louise Shelley, Dr. Elena Tyuryukanova, Dr. Natalia Lopashenko and Dr. Liudmila Erokhina hosted a roundtable discussion on human trafficking at the All Russia Media Festival in Dagomys, Russia, a national conference for journalists from across the Russian Federation.

• On September 8-9, TraCCC co-sponsored a NATO Advanced Workshop on "Understanding and Responding to Terrorism: A Multi-dimensional Approach." The workshop took place at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC. For more information, please contact the Turkish Institute for Police Studies (TIPS) at natoconference@tipsonline.org.

July 2006
• TraCCC Director Louise Shelley, together with Dr Irina Ivakhnyuk (Senior Researcher and Deputy Director, Population Department, Faculty of Economics, Moscow State Lomonosov University) and Ambassador Mary Ann Peters (Associate Director for International Liaison, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies) hosted a Geneva Center for Security Policy (GCSP) Public Discussion on 'Transnational Security: Threats and Responses' in Geneva, Switzerland.

• On April 29, TraCCC hosted a discussion with Dr. Jim Jacobs, whose book, Mobsters, Unions & Feds: The Mafia and the American Labor Movement (New York University Press, 2006), deals with organized crime's century-long infiltration and exploitation of American unions and their pension/welfare plans, as well as the federal law enforcement's extraordinary 20 year-long effort to remedy the situation by means of court supervised union and pension fund trusteeships achieved through civil RICO litigation.

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Previous Events Hosted - 2005

October 2005
• On October 26, TraCCC researchers Nabi Abdullaev and Simon Saradzhyan presented Trade-offs between security and Civil Liberties in Russia's War on Terror: Four Regional Case Studies at the Moscow Carnegie Center, to an audience of government officials, journalists, and local academics. The authors warned that Russia was increasing the threat of terrorism by cracking down on civil liberties. They drew on case study analysis of four key regions in Russia: Chechnya, Dagestan, Moscow, and St. Petersburg. The report provoked a lively discussion of how Russia can do a better job in implementing its efforts to address the growing terrorist threat.

• On October 25, TraCCC hosted a round-table discussion on corruption and governance in higher education that was followed by a question and answer session. Prof. Louise Shelley, TraCCC founder/director and SIS professor, moderated the panel.

Prof. Ethan Burger (TraCCC legal advisor and adjunct professor at American University's Washington College of Law) discussed recent American University events in the context of corporate malfeasance seen since 2001. Prof. Burger discussed the corporatization of American universities, specifically the role of shareholders, who, in a business environment would expect profit, versus stakeholders, the entire community that is affected by the institution. Prof. Burger also explained how corruption and quickly sweep through an institution when the institution does not maintain oversight over corporate officers. This move towards a business structure without oversight could have been a major cause of the Ladner affair. Together, these issues should result in the university reexamining the role of the Board of Trustees.

Prof. Peter Lewis of American University discussed cronyism in institutions, both public and private. Specifically, the recent events at American University echo events at Adelphi University, Tyco, and the United Way. In each of these cases the board of trustees approved compensation for officers out of line with the officers’ experience and the organizations’ size. Again, these cases were brought about by a lack of transparency and accountability. Prof. Lewis specifically pointed out that cronyism, that is, when the chief executive or president appoints his friends or those who will not question his actions, on the board. Lack of accountability nearly always results in insider dealing. AU must reexamine the structures and rules that govern the Board of Trustees.

Jason Terry, American University Master's degree student, discussed his recent experiences as a student representative on the Board of Trustees of his undergraduate institution following a restructuring of the university by its president to promote transparency in local and university communication. Mr. Terry pointed out that the university was overwhelmingly supportive of the changes, as a lack of communication and perceived accountability had separated the board and previous administration from the students. Moreover, this lack of communication prevented students from receiving the assistance they needed from administrators. The reforms initiated by the new president opened community between the student body and university administration. Mr. Terry said that the transparency gave students not only the ability to influence decisions, but the responsibility to become more involved in the daily affairs of the university.

During the question and answer session, each of the round-table speakers pointed that the solution to American University’s current problem are threefold: Better auditing, an independent board of trustees, and a president that is accountable to the university community. This scale of the problem within the university administration is demonstrated by the need for outside investigators to look into the practices with the Board of Trustees and President's office. The scope of inquiry needs to be widened from looking at only the actions of the Board of Trustees and President to the underlying problems that allowed their actions to move so far away from what the university expects from them.

• On October 17, TraCCC hosted a conference entitled 'From Revolution to Reform: Law and Its Practice in Russia and the CIS', which brought together key decision makers from the public and private sectors to celebrate the scholarship and service of American University's School of International Service alumnus William E. Butler (BA, ‘61) who recently returned to the United States after 35 years in London and Moscow, and to examine critical developments in Russia’s legal, political, and economic life.

September 2005

• On September 30, TraCCC's Saratov Center hosted its academic seminar entitled 'Criminal Trade in Weapons: Current Trends and Ways of Combating.' The seminar participants included prominent scholars and junior legal professionals from across Russia, as well as law-enforcement officials from Saratov and Samara oblast. The seminar sessions were attended by students of various departments of the Saratov Law Academy. Following the sessions, a group of prominent legal specialists and practitioners gathered as a working group to discuss new legislative projects and other salient issues of transnational crime and corruption in the Saratov region and across the Russian Federation.

Also, TraCCC's Georgia Office organized a conference on the "Reform of Law Enforcement Structures and Its Impact on Fighting Crime in Georgia". The conference was held at Tbilisi State University.

Finally, TRACCC and ABA-CEELI hosted a joint event on "Crime and Corruption Related to Migration in Russian Megalopolises: Comparative Analysis of Moscow and St. Petersburg Patterns" in Moscow. TraCCC presentations were made by Elena Tiuriukanova, Louise Shelley, and Liudmila Erokhina.

• On September 3, Dr. Louise Shelley participated in a plenary on "Criminal Justice Reform in Central and Eastern Europe," at the European Society of Criminology Annual Conference in Kracow, Poland. Other speakers included Abdrzej Siemaszko (Institute of Administration of Justice and Warsaw University, Warsaw, Poland) and Helena Valkova (University of Plzen, Czech Republic).

• On September 2
TraCCC hosted a panel at the European Society of Criminology Annual Conference in Kracow, Poland, entitled "Russia and Georgia: Internal Policies and Organized Crime Problems that Pose a Threat to European Union Member States." The panel was chaired by Dr. Louise Shelley. Other participants and areas of research included:
• Alexander Salagaev (Center for Analytical Studies and Research) "Market for Illegitimate Services in Russian Law Enforcement Agencies."
• Vasiliy Valuev (Rus-Expert Transit) "Ties Between Big Business and the Military-Industrial Complex: Implications for Security."
• Bulat Fatkulin (Chelyabinsk State University, Russia) "Drug-Trade Along the Russia-Kazakhstan Border and its Implications for Europe."
• Alexander Kupatadze (American University's Transnational Crime and Corruption Center - Georgia Office, Georgia) "Smuggling in, from and through Georgia: Threats to Europe."

June 2005
• On June 1, TraCCC visiting scholar-in-residence, Fiammetta Borgia, presented her research on "The Role of Disclosure in Corporate Governance." The event took place at 4:00pm in the Mary Graydon Center, Room 245, on the American University Main Campus.

May 2005
• On May 31, a symposium entitled "A View of the Problem of Corruption in the Russian Arbitrazh Court System" took place at the Kennan Institute on Tuesday, May 31 2005, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m., presented by TraCCC's Ethan Burger, Scholar-in-Residence, School of International Service, and Adjunct Associate Professor, Washington College of Law, American University. For more information, visit the Kennan Institute website.

• From May 16-22 TraCCC’s Saratov Center for the Study of Organized Crime and Corruption held its third annual Summer School for Junior-Level Law Professors and Legal Practitioners on the theme of “Contemporary Types of Organized Crime: Analysis, Trends and Issues of Combating.” About 60 young scholars and practitioners from 19 regions of the Russian Federation as well as Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan participated in the event. More information on the Summer School schedule and panels is available (in Russian) at the Saratov Center website.

• From May 13-15 TraCCC’s Saratov Center for the Study of Organized Crime and Corruption held its Annual International Conference entitled “Issues of Combating the Criminal Redistribution of Property.” The conference attendees included policymakers, scholars and practitioners from 20 regions of the Russian Federation as well as from the U.S., Italy, Georgia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

• On May 5, TraCCC hosted Tony Krone, a computer crime researcher from Australia, for a presentation on "Recent evidence of East European connections in identity crime in Australia," and "The role of the Australian High Tech Crime Centre in combatting high tech crime in Australia." Mr. Krone is currently working on a joint project between the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Australian High Tech Crime Centre.

• From March 18-19, TraCCC co-organized a conference of chapter writers for the forthcoming book "Russian Business Power: The Role of Russian Business in Foreign and Security Relations," at the Center for Security Studies of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

February 2005
• On February 21, TraCCC Doctoral Fellow, Christopher Corpora defended his dissertation entitled "Connections, Conundrums, and Criminality: Understanding Local Perceptions About and Attitudes Toward Organized Crime and Corruption in Bosnia and Herzegovina". Louise Shelley, Dissertation Chair, Julie Mertus, and Maryann Cusimano Love comprised the examination panel.

• On February 20, TraCCC and the Hajji Baba Society presented "Drugs, Bugs, Thugs, and Rugs," in the Mary Graydon Center of the American University Main Campus. The presentation was given by Dr Louise Shelley and Andrew Weber, a special advisor for Threat Reduction Policy at the Pentagon whose efforts to combat biological weapons are featured in the book Germs by J. Miller, S. Engelberg, and W. Broad. Both are members of the International Hajji Baba Society. Their professional activities require them to travel frequently to the former Soviet Union, where they keep meeting in rug shops.

In this talk they described their adventures hunting carpets between encounters with some very colorful characters. They explained how a knowledge of rugs helps both in combating some of the serious challenges to western civilization and in making new friends. They also showed a few examples of the rugs and textiles still available in the Caucasus and Central Asia.

• On February 16, Dr. Louise Shelley gave a lecture on "Fighting Transnational Crime" to the Cleveland Committee on Foreign Relations (CCFR), a membership organization of leading business and legal professionals within the Cleveland Council on World Affairs (CCWA).

• On February 15, TraCCC authors Dr. Louise Shelley, Dr. Sally Stoecker, Dr. Beatrix Siman Zakhari, and Olga Pishulina presented a panel discussion in promotion of their book Human Traffic and Transnational Crime: Eurasian and American Perspectives (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005). The event was held in the Butler Board Room on the American University Main Campus.

Human Traffic and Transnational Crime, brings together TraCCC-sponsored American, Ukrainian and Russian scholars to provide the first in-depth, scholarly study of human trafficking in and from Russia and Ukraine. Using case materials, interviews and field research they address the motivations, perceptions and reactions to this contemporary form of human slavery in their countries.

• On February 2, TraCCC sponsored an event at American University entitled, "After the Election: Insights on Recent Events in Ukraine." Presentations were made by Olga Pishulina, visiting Fulbright Scholar to TraCCC who works at the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Kyiv, and Dr. Viktor Dryomin, Director of the TraCCC Regional Research Center on Organized Crime in Odessa, and Chair of the Criminology Department at the National Legal Academy in Odessa.
"Ukrainian Elections: Our Expectations and Our Fears" (MS PPT)
"The Impact of Organized Crime and Corruption on the Political and Legal Situation in Ukraine" (MS PPT)

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Previous Events Hosted - 2004

• On December 3, Jongsoon Jin, PhD candidate in public administration at American University, defended his dissertation, entitled "Corruption and the Time Horizon of Politicians."

• On December 1, TraCCC hosted a book signing eventfor Human Traffic and Transnational Crime: Eurasian and American Perspectives edited by D. Sally Stoecker and Dr. Louise Shelley (Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield) at the Trover Book Shop, 221 Pennsylvania Ave. SE Washington D.C. 20003.

• Also on December 1,TraCCC co-sponsored a conference with Freedom House entitled "Corruption in Russia and the Challenge of Terrorism", at 1201 Connecticut Avenue, N. W., Washington, D.C.

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