This book explores the conundrum that political fortune is dependent both on social order and big, constitutive crime. An act of outrageous harm depends on rules and protocols of crime scene discovery and forensic recovery, but political authorities review events for a social agenda, so that crime is designated according to the relative absence or presence of politics. In investigating this problem, the book introduces the concepts ‘intelligence crime’ and ‘critical forensics.’ It also reviews as an exemplar of this phenomenon ‘apex crime,’ a watershed event involving government in the support of a contested political and social order and its primary opponent as the obvious offender, which is then subject to a confirmation bias. Chapters feature case study analysis of a selection of familiar, high profile crimes in which the motives and actions of security or intelligence actors are considered as blurred or smeared depending on their interconnection in transactional political events, or according to friend/enemy status.

This book explores the conundrum that political fortune is dependent both on social order and big, constitutive crime. An act of outrageous harm depends on rules and protocols of crime scene discovery and forensic recovery, but political authorities review events for a social agenda, so that crime is designated according to the relative absence or presence of politics. In investigating this problem, the book introduces the concepts ‘intelligence crime’ and ‘critical forensics.’ It also reviews as an exemplar of this phenomenon ‘apex crime,’ a watershed event involving government in the support of a contested political and social order and its primary opponent as the obvious offender, which is then subject to a confirmation bias. Chapters feature case study analysis of a selection of familiar, high profile crimes in which the motives and actions of security or intelligence actors are considered as blurred or smeared depending on their interconnection in transactional political events, or according to friend/enemy status.

The transnationally coordinated response to "Covid-19" witnessed numerous developments reminiscent of the prewar years of the Third Reich, including the suspension of constitutional rights and freedoms, the rollout of draconian legislation, an attempted revolution from above (the "Great Reset"), the censorship of dissent, health surveillance, euthanasia, eugenics, the corruption of science by politics, and the hijacking of conscience. The list goes on. "Never again!" was the rallying cry after 1945, yet never again is now global. How did we get here? Wall Street, the Nazis, and the Crimes of the Deep State explores the role of Wall Street in promoting the rise of Hitler, funding the Nazi war machine, recruiting and rehabilitating ex-Nazis, and creating a transnational deep state inspired by Nazi methods. Wall Street has long preferred totalitarianism as the regime type most effective in crushing working-class resistance, and as capitalism once more enters a period of acute crisis, the aim is to replace liberal democracy with global technocracy—a novel, biodigital form of totalitarianism whose potential for social control exceeds anything imaginable by Hitler or Stalin. Wall Street, the Nazis, and the Crimes of the Deep State illustrates how totalitarianism does not spring into existence fully formed. In the case of Nazi Germany, the descent into barbarism took place gradually, over many years. Today, the warning signs from history are flashing red. Unless the global technocratic coup being attempted is put down, we can expect the centralization of power in a New World Order, the return of slavery, the privatization of the global commons, and the transformation of society into a biodigital camp, bringing an end to the rule of law and normalizing the use of eugenics and a systematic mass murder of dissidents.

Policing and surveillance acoss international borders has been of increasing concern since the 9.11 attacks in North America, and the accession of the Schengen Accord in Europe. This book brings together leading authorities in the field to discuss both theoretical and empirical aspects of the way in which modern states attempt to control their borders and a mobile population.

Most Americans assume that the United States provides a gold standard for human rights—a 2007 survey found that 80 percent of U.S. adults believed that "the U.S. does a better job than most countries when it comes to protecting human rights." As well, discussions among scholars and public officials in the United States frame human rights issues as concerning people, policies, or practices "over there." By contrast, the contributors to this volume argue that many of the greatest immediate and structural threats to human rights, and some of the most significant efforts to realize human rights in practice, can be found in our own backyard. Human Rights in Our Own Backyard examines the state of human rights and responses to human rights issues, drawing on sociological literature and perspectives to interrogate assumptions of American exceptionalism. How do people in the U.S. address human rights issues? What strategies have they adopted, and how successful have these strategies been? Essays are organized around key conventions of human rights, focusing on the relationships between human rights and justice, the state and the individual, civil rights and human rights, and group rights versus individual rights. The contributors are united by a common conception of the human rights enterprise as a process involving not only state-defined and implemented rights but also human rights from below as promoted by activists.

Full-scale political change affects every level of a society, but perhaps nowhere as strikingly as in the areas of crime policy and law enforcement. Over the past two decades, the European nations that have moved from totalitarianism toward democracy have come to embody this trend, yet reliable sources on crime and law enforcement in these countries have not been readily accessible to the West. Representing viewpoints seldom available to outsiders, the contributors to Crime and Transition in Central and Eastern Europe analyze changes in criminal activities and crime control strategies in the region, explain the political background underlying these developments, and assess their long-term social impact. Experts from Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina discuss the politicization of crime, the ongoing paradoxes regarding civil liberties, and the future of crime policy in comparative and country-specific terms. Among the topics featured in the book: Crime and crime control in transitional countries, politics, the media, and public perception of crime, surveillance: from national security to private industry, penal policy and political change, emerging trends: economic and organized crime, human trafficking, juvenile delinquency, new perspectives on corruption in the region. With this fascinating insight, Crime and Transition in Central and Eastern Europe is a singular reference for researchers and policymakers in criminology and political science, and historians with a special interest in European affairs and policy.

How can we ensure national security against people unafraid to kill themselves along with their victims - people who, self-evidently, will not be deterred by traditional laws which punish offenders after their crimes are committed. This is the challenge for liberal democracies such as Australia. New laws specifically designed to forestall terrorist activity have been a key response. Law and Liberty in the War on Terror describes these laws and debates both their effectiveness and impact on civil liberties. International and domestic commentators from the fields of government, law and political science address questions such as: How does the law define 'terrorism'? Can the criminal justice system accommodate preparatory terrorism offences? Is torture ever acceptable as an interrogative method? What is the role of the judiciary in times of emergency? How do Australia's anti-terrorism laws compare with those of the United Kingdom and New Zealand? How are Australian communities and politics affected by responses to terrorism?"[I] n this book, proponents of the new anti-terrorism laws seek to justify their provisions and opponents argue that the laws go too far. These chapters also show the extent of the changes that have been made to our legal and administrative structures. ... The chapters in this book cannot be dismissed as mere academic analyses. They have to do with the lives and aspirations of all Australians. They ask whether Australia is, and whether it will be, a united, secure, free and confident nation." - Sir Gerard Brennan AC KBE, former Chief Justice of Australia

This interdisciplinary volume critically explores how the ever-increasing use of automated systems is changing policing, criminal justice systems, and military operations at the national and international level. The book examines the ways in which automated systems are beneficial to society, while addressing the risks they represent for human rights. This book starts with a historical overview of how different types of knowledge have transformed crime control and the security domain, comparing those epistemological shifts with the current shift caused by knowledge produced with high-tech information technology tools such as big data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. The first part explores the use of automated systems, such as predictive policing and platform policing, in law enforcement. The second part analyzes the use of automated systems, such as algorithms used in sentencing and parole decisions, in courts of law. The third part examines the use and misuse of automated systems for surveillance and social control. The fourth part discusses the use of lethal (semi)autonomous weapons systems in armed conflicts. An essential read for researchers, politicians, and advocates interested in the use and potential misuse of automated systems in crime control, this diverse volume draws expertise from such fields as criminology, law, sociology, philosophy, and anthropology.

If subjecting war to law is one of the most important legal achievements of the 20th century, progressing further in that direction is one of the most important challenges for the 21st century. The problems it poses are many: the term “war” has formally fallen into disuse and we talk about “peacekeeping”; armies are today the product of cooperation between states and international organizations; private contractors increasingly participate in warlike activities, as the case of the Iraq war demonstrates; and the lines between war and very serious forms of crime (terrorism, organized crime) are increasingly blurred. This volume compiles the contributions presented at XVth International Congress on Social Defence, and tackle the criminal-legal issues raised by these new scenarios. It constitutes an innovative volume, gathering together the work of both academic and military authors, who have drawn on their theoretical and practical experience.