RAND_MR1382

organizations have hierarchical structures, Russian organized crime can only be fully
understood in terms of network connections between the underworld and the
upperworld.
There are three manifestations of this phenomenon that are particularly important.
First, there is cooperation among criminals, businessmen, and politicians who are part
of the new iron triangle of network relationships that dominate Russian life. Using
network analysis and software tools such as Analyst’s Notebook, discussed more fully
below, it is possible to trace some of these linkages. In some cases, the connections are
made through common financial interests in one or more companies—interests that
often make strange and surprising bedfellows.
Next, there is the use of violence to manage relationships that are anything but
cooperative. For example, when criminal networks attempt to extend their influence
into legitimate businesses and meet resistance, those resisting are often eliminated.
Indeed, contract killings have become an important instrument of organized crime—and
also a very visible indicator of organized crime infiltration of licit businesses or
economic sectors.
Finally, there are figures who operate in both domains. One of the most notable of these
figures is Yuri Shutov, a St. Petersburg Duma deputy who, until his arrest, ran a muchfeared
assassination squad. Shutov’s team carried out a series of contract killings aimed
at eliminating criminal rivals, removing obstacles to criminal takeover of the energy
sector, and neutralizing threats from law enforcement authorities and reformist
politicians.
CONFRONTING CRIMINAL NETWORKS
It is clear from the foregoing examples of criminal networks in action that they are
formidable. This does not mean that they are invulnerable, however. Indeed, there are
several ways in which governments and law enforcement agencies can respond more
effectively to the challenges posed by criminal networks.
Although criminal networks are resistant to disruption and have high levels of
redundancy and resilience, they are not impervious to attack by law enforcement. The
nature of these networks, however, suggests that the attacks need to be carefully
orchestrated, finely calibrated, and implemented in a comprehensive and systematic
fashion. Indeed, there are several important prerequisites for initiating effective attacks
on networks, especially clear delineation of objectives and enhanced intelligence
assessments.
In attacking networks, it is vitally important to determine the major objectives: Are they
to destroy the network, simply to degrade its capacity to carry out criminal actions, or
to detach the network from its support apparatus in the licit world? The objectives can