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ITU Telecom World 2009: Highlights

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All our lauded technological progress -- our very civilization -
is like the axe in the hand of the pathological criminal.
(Albert Einstein)

Over the last years we have witnessed changes as we analyzed criminal trends and elaborated new strategies to confront crime. New scenarios have emerged, which have obliged us to improve knowledge and to rethink strategies. These changes are the direct consequences of a wired world driven by global markets where frontiers are abolished mainly in the name of economics. This new world, dominated by new information and communication technologies, has also redefined the criminals’ profile and their modus operandi.

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Criminal Connections

Written by Loretta Napoleoni

Territoriality remains paramount to organized crime, and in a globalised economy the geography of crime expands exponentially. Local criminal organizations are presented with new international opportunities almost daily, as shown by the recent transformation of the Camorra. Over the last few years, the Neapolitan organization internationalised its dirty business by entering into joint ventures with the Chinese Triads operating in Italy.

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The Responsibility to Protect: Whom from What?

Written by Edward Luck

Undoubtedly the responsibility to protect is a hot item. Endorsed and explained in two detailed paragraphs (138 and 139) of the unanimously adopted Outcome Document of the 2005 World Summit, it has since been reaffirmed by the General Assembly (resolution 60/1) and the Security Council (resolutions 1674 (2006) and 1706 (2006)), and the subject of a major speech (SG/SM/11701) and a major report (A/63/677) of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

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How does corruption translate in social sector?

Written by Anne Lugon-Moulin

Corruption is often depicted as a major impediment to poverty reduction. Being detrimental to good governance, corruption undermines the smooth implementation of sound economic and social policies. First, as far as petty corruption is concerned, extra payments in the forms of bribes are required from users of public services; therefore, fair access to public services is denied.

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NO TIME to Put Climate Science on Ice

Written by Achim Steiner

© UN Photo/Mark Garten

Nairobi, 5 February 2010 - The science of climate change has been on the defensive in recent weeks, owing to an error that dramatically overstated the rate at which the Himalayan glaciers could disappear. Some in the media, and those who are skeptical about climate change, are currently having a field day, parsing every comma and cough in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 2007 assessment. Some strident voices are even dismissing climate change as a hoax on a par with the Y2K computer bug. As a result, the public has become increasingly bewildered as the unremitting questioning of the IPCC and its chair assumes almost witch-hunting proportions in some quarters.

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Reflexions on Forms and Dimensions of Radicalization(s)

Written by Ahmed Said Ould Bah

It is now very rare to come across, or even to write an article on such issues like dialogue, Terrorism, and Radicalization without expanding on theoretical definitions and ideological arguments which most likely make it difficult to get any clear idea about the nature, impact and perspectives of these issues. Moreover, it gives the impression of repetition, polemics and rather useless rhetoric that we find in almost every piece of literature in this field.

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A bleak year for piracy

Written by Captain Pottengal Mukundan

Unprecedented rise in maritime hijackings

2008 has been a bleak year for piracy. The figures of the annual report we have released surpass all figures for hijacked vessels and hostages taken recorded by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) since it began its worldwide reporting function in 1992.

In 2008 there was a total of 293 incidents of piracy against ships worldwide, showing an increase of more than 11% from 2007 when 263 incidents were reported. In 2008, 49 vessels were hijacked, 889 crewmembers were taken hostage and a further 46 vessels reported being fired upon. A total, of 32 crewmembers were injured, 11 were killed, 21 went missing and are presumed dead. Guns were used in 139 incidents (in 2007 they were just 72).

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Gaza

Written by Trude Strand

A Fence Away from Freedom

There is a fence around Gaza. It stretches from the north to the south. From a distance, the fence looks innocent; it is not a tall, imposing structure with deep ditches or piercing floodlights. Neither does it appear impenetrable. Yet the fence looks out of place, uncomfortable, dividing land that otherwise flows gently as far as the eye can see. And as everyone in Gaza knows, any seemingly benign features belie the fact that the fence constitutes an absolute – separating people from productive livelihoods, family members, higher education, and, indeed, freedom itself in the form of access to the rest of the world beyond it.

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