From cyberattacks to arms trafficking, crime in Russia isn't always just crime -- sometimes, it's a tool of statecraft.
The security services have effectively tamed and co-opted the fabled Russian mafia -- a web of criminal networks with global reach -- and turned it into a lethal weapon in Moscow's showdown with the West.
On the latest Power Vertical Podcast, we take a look at Russia's gangster weapon and its effectiveness.
Joining me is co-host Mark Galeotti, a professor at New York University, an expert in Russian organized crime, and author of the blog In Moscow's Shadows, and guest Karen Dawisha, director of the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies at Miami University in Ohio, and author of the highly acclaimed book Putin's Kleptocracy: Who Owns Russia?
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Podcast: The Gangster Weapon
Listen to or download the podcast above or subscribe to The Power Vertical Podcast on iTunes.