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Transnational organized crime has been prevalent during the last century, but it recently has been recognized as a threat to the world order. Governments throughout the world, along with the intergovernmental organizations identified this phenomenon as a new threat to domestic and international security. This paper attempts to explain the impacts of transnational organized crime on the functioning of democratic societies by adopting the Russian Organized Crime as case study. The descriptive research with regard to definition, scope and organization of transnational organized crime, along with the objectives, limitations and methodology of this research will be included in the first chapter. Recent trends observed in organized crime`s character and the impact of organized crime on the political economies of democratic regimes will be contained in the following chapters. Pre-conditions for a broader response to transnational organized crime and conclusive remarks will be the context of the last chapter.

This thesis offers a comparative analysis of the Constitutional law mechanism for human rights protection in Canada and Russia. Russia is experiencing a transition from the former soviet regime towards democracy and civil society. Since the beginning of the transition in 1991 Russia has made three major steps in that direction: the adoption of the Declaration of Rights and Freedoms of the Individual and Citizen of 1991, the Constitution of 1993 and the ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights in 1998. However, the existent constitutional law mechanism for human rights protection is not fully effective due to its novelty for Russian society. A number of lessons can be learned from the Canadian and European experiences of human rights protection. Among them is the necessity to build the mechanism for human rights protection that will be based on the rule of law, direct application of the Constitution, and the creation of a human rights culture, supported by the people's trust in independent judicial institutions.

This thesis explored the role of the six wealthy Russian businessmen, the oligarchs, in 1996 reelection of President Boris Yeltsin. This research was qualitative and descriptive. The goal was to collect the information from various sources and summarize it, demonstrating how the interference of the oligarchs reflected on the process of the election, as well as on the careers of their own.The research concluded that the oligarchs' role was, first of all, in the organization and financing a highly effective election campaign team; consolidating the business elite and big capital around Yeltsin, using the media that they controlled as a tool of pro-Yeltsin propaganda; and influencing some key decision taken by Yeltsin. The result was Yeltsin's victory, and the increase of the oligarchs' wealth and political power.This ability of the oligarchs to manipulate politics completely cemented the interrelation between business and politics in Russia, which contributed to Russia's reputation as a country of corruption and lawlessness. / Department of Political Science

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1997. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 292-306).

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-131). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2005. / Thesis Advisor(s): Anne Clunan, Robert Looney. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-75). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Social and Political Thought. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 294-307). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pNR11545.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 279-298).

This thesis examines the Mid Upper Palaeolithic (MUP) of Russia (ca. 30,000-20,000 14C BP). During this time, as in the rest of Europe, the principal archaeological industry is known as the Gravettian. However, in Russia two other industries, the Streletskayan and the Gorodtsovian, are also known from the beginning of the MUP. Historically, there have been significant problems integrating the Russian MUP record with that from the rest of Europe. The research described in this thesis concentrates on backed lithic assemblages (including Gravette points, microgravettes, other backed points and backed bladelets) from five Russian Gravettian sites: Kostenki 8 Layer 2, Kostenki 4, Kostenki 9, Khotylevo 2 and Kostenki 21 Layer 3. These are studied from an explicitly Western European theoretical perspective, using standard techno-typological methods to construct typological groupings and describe the variation between and within sites. Alongside this, new radiocarbon dates from several sites Kostenki 8 Layer 2, Kostenki 4 and Borshchevo 5) were obtained. These radiocarbon dates are critically analysed alongside published dates and unpublished dates made available to this research. The results of the research constitute a new culture history for the Russian MUP. Each stage of the MUP is dated and described, and the uncertainties in our knowledge outlined. One new lithic index fossil is defined and two others are re-assessed. The Russian record is compared with the contemporary archaeological record elsewhere in Europe, in order to describe large-scale synchronic variation and changes through time in the homogeneity and regionalisation of material culture. The relationship between these dynamics and climate change are discussed.