Hidden Power: The Strategic Logic of Organised Crime

by James Cockayne

Hidden Power reveals criminal mafias determining political outcomes to suit their own agendas, and tells how they do it - by influencing elections, changing constitutions, fomenting terrorism, waging war, negotiating peace deals and working behind the scenes in pivotal historical moments such as the Second World War and the Cuban Missile Crisis.Drawing on unpublished government documents and mafia memoirs, James Cockayne reveals a century of forgotten political-criminal collaboration in New York, Sicily and the Caribbean and explains how such links persist globally, from the drug wars in Mexico, to smuggling routes in West Africa, to political instability in Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia.Forcing us to rethink our distinctions between politics, conflict and crime, Hidden Power reveals a world in which states and mafias compete - and collaborate - for power.

496 pages, Hardcover

Published September 8, 2016

About the author

James Cockayne is an Australian strategist, writer and international lawyer who works at the United Nations. His research and practice focus on armed groups, organised crime, counter-terrorism and the protection of human rights.

Reviews

[Nils · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply the most theoretically sophisticated and archivally well-grounded book yet written about the relationship between statecraft and organized crime. A must read for anyone interested in debates about the impact of globalization on statecraft, about counterinsurgency and post-conflict stabilization, about populist backlash against the neoliberal state, and of course about organized crime -- in short, for anyone interested in the nature of contemporary governmentality. The synthesis and analytic integration of each of these literatures is a tour de force.

Rooted in a sophisticated, archive-based unpacking of the historical evolution of the Italian-American Mafia, with many penetrating side-glances at other organized criminal operations both contemporary and historical, Cockayne takes criminals seriously as strategists operating under dynamic conditions with imperfect information. He develops a typology of different strategies that the Mafia and other criminal organizations have adopted in dealing with their primary counter-party, namely the state (or states) they have to deal with. These strategies include three varieties of "accommodation," including intermediation (paying 'corrupt' rents to the state), warlordism (developing zones of autonomy), and "joint ventures"; and (more rarely) three strategies of "confrontation," including strategic alliances with common enemies, terrorism, and "blue ocean" (seeking out new, untapped markets). Which strategies criminal organizations adopt depend on the kinds of rents they are trying to extract as well as the postures that their state adversaries adopt.

A brilliant book.

[Francesco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Organized crime is intertwined with politics, military and business. It is more present in, and has more implications on, our lives than we actually realize. James Cockayne is well aware of this collision of powers and his book is the first one that help us develop a strategic approach to counter this present threat. How are we to prevent mafias from infiltrating global politics? How do we prevent states from working with, or acting like mafias? And how can states act strategically against these criminal groups whose whole strategic approach is intended to keep their power hidden? These are the central questions that Cockayne successfully addresses in his new fascinating book. He accurately and thoughtfully dissects how criminal actors define their goals, the resources they have and the constraints they faced in mobilizing and deploying those resources to achieve their goals. This is done through the analysis of previously untapped declassified documents, mafia leaders' memoirs, police, judicial and parliamentary proceedings, which make for a fascinating read. Cockayne leads the reader in the exploration of the "dark side" of power, with juicy anecdotes and insights in the Gangs of New York, the collaboration between the Mob and the US Navy in WW2's invasion of Italy, Lucky Luciano, the Cuban mafia, all the way to today's Mexico and Africa's Sahel. The result of this work is the development of 6 types of strategies that criminal organizations adopt when competing with states and useful considerations on how to deal with these different positioning strategies.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent analysis of the intersections of social banditry, organized crime, kleptocratic government, economic globalization, and populism -- unfortunately hugely relevant now. Mr. Cockayne is an engaging writer who adheres to that helpful model of "tell them what you're going to tell them, then tell them, then tell them what you told them." The material is complex enough (and always interesting) to warrant this treatment.