"Thieves' World" is as timely today as "The Terror Network" was in 1981.
It's disturbing that it took a mere thirteen years for Sterling to recast
the face of evil from the KGB to organized crime, but despite the alarmist
tone, this book appears to be solid. It's about four major international
problems -- the Russians, the Chinese Triads, the Japanese Yakuza, and
Colombia's cocaine cartels. Sterling contends that they cooperate with each
other and are getting sophisticated with laundering and reinvestments, while
many banks and financial markets are looking the other way. Most governments,
meanwhile, are powerless: central authority has collapsed in the eastern
bloc, and in the west, the European Community can't agree on how to pool
their resources, or even on standardizing laws concerning surveillance,
search and seizure, confiscation, and laundering. Considering the difficulty
of investigating this topic, Sterling does a credible job of reporting.
ISBN 0-671-74997-8
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