Insight with Misha Glenny: McMafia

Talk Tuesday 8th July, 2008


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McMafia is a fearless, encompassing, wholly authoritative investigation of the now proven ability of organized crime worldwide to find and service markets driven by a seemingly insatiable demand for illegal wares. Whether discussing the Russian mafia, Colombian drug cartels, or Chinese labor smugglers, Misha Glenny makes clear how organized crime feeds off the poverty of the developing world, how it exploits new technology in the forms of cybercrime and identity theft, and how both global crime and terror are fueled by an identical source: the triumphant material affluence of the West.

Misha Glenny
was educated at Bristol University in England and Charles University in Prague. He is also the author of The Rebirth of History, The Fall of Yugoslavia (which won the Overseas Press Club Award in 1993 for Best Book on Foreign Affairs), and The Balkans, 18041999. During the early 1990s he was the central Europe correspondent for the BBC World Service, and in 1993 he won a Sony Award for his coverage of Yugoslavia. He has contributed to most major US and European newspapers and current affairs magazines and is regularly consulted by US and European governments on Balkan issues. Misha Glenny lives in London.

Paul Kenyon
is a highly experienced reporter and producer who has worked across BBC News and Current Affairs, and has also presented on Five Live.
In 2005 he was the first reporter to film Iran’s secret nuclear sites, making an hour-long documentary which was shown around the world. His reporting for Panorama, Correspondent and This World has taken him around the world – investigating Nike in Cambodia, fugitives in Northern Cyprus and even dolphin-hunting in Japan.