This fascinating work is a two-volume guide to the shadow world, the critical issues, and the global reach of organized crime.

Despite its impact on international security and the world economy, organized crime is an unusual topic for a reference book. Difficult to research, the high-profit, high-risk subculture of drug lords, diamond smugglers, and sex slavers is rarely investigated by scholars. Organized Crime: An International Encyclopedia ventures behind the scenes into this hazardous territory.

In the first volume, expert contributors offer a global perspective on issues such as weapons and arms trafficking, high-tech and cyber crimes, the future of organized crime, and the connection between organized crime and armed conflicts. The second volume consists entirely of primary documents, national and international laws, and treaties that reflect the international community's many attempts-largely ineffective-to combat organized crime. Together the two volumes provide students and general readers with a road map to a shadow world with far-reaching impact on the world we know.

• Over 140 entries, arranged alphabetically by theme, on topics such as financial fraud, terrorism, health care fraud, and Internet extortion
• Includes essays by more than 65 international experts
• Offers a timeline depicting the history and development of international organized crime
• Includes an entire volume of primary source documents
• A directory of major organized crime groups and international criminal networks and an extensive bibliography round out the coverage