Most state-corporate crime research is focused on crime or harmful outcomes in or by democratic states. The goal of this article is to investigate the applicability of this concept to relations between economic actors and non-democratic state actors. The concept of state-corporate crime is applied to three contexts in which corporations have become involved in international crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Each representing a turning point in the academic and public perception of ‘business and human rights’, the contexts that are analysed are Nazi Germany (1993-1945), Apartheid South Africa (1948-1994) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC; 1996-now). It is concluded that in non-democratic states with totalitarian of authoritarian regimes (such as Nazi Germany and Apartheid South Africa), the concept of state-corporate crime is applicable and explanatory. In such strong states, economic and state actors make use of mutual benefits while, on the whole, state-interests prevail. As a result, the harmful outcome of the dynamics between corporations and states can best be described as corporate facilitated state crime. In weak states (such as the DRC) economic actors are generally more powerful while their involvement in international crimes also runs via non-state actors. The blurred lines between economic actors and state actors (and their interests) makes it difficult to apply the concept, in its different forms, to state-corporate cooperation in weak states and ‘new’ wars.

This article highlights the special position of European heads of intelligence and security services. In the search for important characteristics of intelligence leadership through time, a comparison is made between five services from five different countries (Germany, France, the Netherlands, Greece and Spain). Using Anglo-American reference information and a leadership typology developed by intelligence expert Robarge, the consecutive heads of service in these European countries are profiled and categorized. This leads to a picture that has always been dominated by males, a strong military presence and many end-of-career heads. Their influence on the internal and external service development was often substantial, with alternate appointments of inside and outside reformers. The scale of openness usually constituted a struggle with both the inside and outside world. Nowadays, the heads are being confronted with new challenges and demands, which leads to the conclusion that a new form of ‘distributed’ or ‘interdependent’ leadership is required, in which old reflexes to appoint people with an operational, military or police background as heads of these services are no longer self-evident.

This article focuses on mobile organized criminal groups that travel through Europe and commit a broad range of property crimes. The study aims to explore the perspective of individual group members. Information was gathered from fifteen criminal investigations that were carried out in the Netherlands in recent years (2013-2016). The study shows that members of these crime groups view their criminal activities primarily as ‘work’. It is work that is characterized by conflicts and consensus. Conflicts often have to do with the stolen loot and reveal disagreement about leadership, rules and obedience. Rows and threats of violence go along with feelings of fear and distrust. At the same time gang members belong to an international deviant community with a shared common way of life and feelings of togetherness. Performing within this international community gives the possibility to attain social status and to express success and richness. These contractive emotions and symbolic meanings characterize the everyday life of gang members and motivates their daily practices.

Drawing on material from her extensive study of Russian organized crime, the author sketches a portrait of Semjon Mogilevitsj. This Russian ‘godfather’ enjoys the reputation of being the smartest and highest educated mafia boss worldwide. Indeed Mogilevitsj obtained a master’s degree in Economics with good results, but this alone doesn’t explain his phenomenal successes in criminal as well as in legal business. Describing the steady expansion of his criminal activities from Russia into Israel, the United States, Eastern Europa, Italy and Canada, the author suggests that the social and economic circumstances in Russia just before and during the collapse of the Soviet Union might have served as an ideal playing ground for Mogilevitsj to develop the specific social intelligence and skills needed to successfully run a criminal organization.

Diverse toezichthouders hebben vertrouwen in ondertoezichtstaanden gekozen als uitgangspunt. Inspecteurs van de Inspectie Gezondheidszorg en Jeugd (IGJ) vinden vertrouwen een lastig te hanteren begrip. Tegelijk geven zij aan dat vertrouwen wel een grote rol speelt bij hun oordeel en handhaving. Ze missen echter handvatten om de afweging van vertrouwen in de zorgaanbieder te kunnen expliciteren en te onderbouwen. Dit is voor de IGJ aanleiding om vanuit het perspectief van de IGJ praktijkonderzoek te doen naar het begrip vertrouwen. Dit leidt tot het afwegingskader.

In de financiële sector is de eed of belofte, met daaraan gekoppeld tuchtrecht, ingevoerd om een cultuurverandering te bewerkstelligen. Zonder follow-up is de eed of belofte echter geen adequaat instrument, omdat het afleggen van de eed of belofte een eenmalig ‘impulsmoment’ is. Voor het realiseren van een cultuurverandering is meer nodig. De auteurs presenteren een model waarmee de eed of belofte binnen de financiële sector duurzaam effectief kan zijn.

The international tax landscape is changing and it is changing fast. The political perception is that taxation of multinational enterprises is not aligned with the ‘economic activity’ that produces their profits (i.e. not aligned with ‘value creation’). The perception links ‘value creation’ with ‘employees and sales’.
In the BEPS Project of the OECD, the OECD attempts to combat base erosion and profit shifting and to align taxation with value creation. In this article, the authors discuss the impact they expect BEPS to have on tax advisory and tax planning. The focus goes to BEPS Actions 7, 8-10 and 13.
By maintaining the separate entity approach under BEPS for the taxation of multinationals, has the OECD been forced to ‘stretch’ existing rules beyond their limits? Will the created uncertainty lead to a shift from ‘aggressive tax planning’ by multinationals to ‘aggressive tax collection’ by tax administrations? Will the role of tax advisory change from advising on the lowest possible effective tax rate to a broader advice including risk appetite and public expectations?

In dit conceptuele artikel wordt doelverschuiving binnen toezichthoudende organisaties verkend. Onderscheid wordt gemaakt in drie types doelverschuiving, te weten doelverplaatsing, doelversmalling en doelverbreding. Indicaties voor het optreden van elk van deze types binnen toezichthoudende organisaties worden beschreven. Geconcludeerd wordt dat doelverschuiving de doeltreffendheid van toezicht ongemerkt aanzienlijk negatief kan beïnvloeden.

The authors reflect on ‘Handelen naar waarheid’ (Acting on truth), an assessment of the state of criminal investigations in The Netherlands, which appeared in May 2016. This report, assigned by the police and public prosecution service and written by four inside experts, caused substantial turmoil in the police organization and beyond. The report addresses six domains: professionalism, attitude and behavior, direction and leadership, capacity for change, organizational structure and business management. The critical and transparent self-reflection by the police received praise from policymakers, journalists and academic observers. It also met with recognition and appreciation in the law enforcement community, in particular among investigators and prosecutors. In the wake of the report, a reform program was organized to modernize both the police and the prosecution service in order to increase the quality and effectiveness of their work. Such reform is deemed necessary because crime problems have become ever more complex and citizens increasingly organize their own (counter-)investigations. The authors conclude that in spite of many recent initiatives, truly innovative practices remain scarce. Also, the crucial ambitions to increase the educational level of investigators and the organizational culture are still far from realized.

In 2013, the government of the Netherlands established a national police force, replacing a system of largely autonomous regional police organizations. This led to an extensive police reform. In this article, I explore the effects of this police reform on the internal dynamics within the police organization. I describe five ‘negative’ effects: anonymization, decoupling, formalization, confusion and de-owning. These effects lead to alienation between police offers and the police organization and hinder the development of the national police force. Beside these negative effects, there are also positive forces that shape the development of the national police force. The top leadership is changing the strategic leadership style and there are many innovative initiatives on the local level contributing to the goals of the reform. However, to make the ambitions of the reform feasible there are adjustments needed in the organizational structure and change approach. The operational core of the organization needs to be the central point of reference for these adjustments.

This article focuses on the challenges facing Community Oriented Policing (COP) in an increasingly complex society. The authors describe how the Dutch police adresses this context through a new police organisation on a national basis, specified job protocols, intelligence led policing and higher educated specialists. Seeking for alternatives the authors argue that COP should be based on a problem centered approach which profits from the insights of local policemen and operational specialists. Adressing ambiguous problems will fail when only applying system logic. Instead, moral involvement and sensemaking are indispensable.

Studying terrorism and radicalization is quite problematic because of a lack of reliable sources. Finding out what motivates terrorists often boils down to educated guessing. The author describes the search for an academic definition of terrorism and summarizes the development of this discipline since the 1970s, thereby distinguishing research on three levels: macro, micro and meso. While before 9/11 few academics were involved in this research field, it ‘exploded’ thereafter. Important factor contributing to this expansion is the greater availability of government funds and relevant data for this type of research. However, the growth of this discipline isn’t just good news, researchers should be aware of a number of pitfalls identified as the proximity to government power, too much self-confidence (hybris) of researchers pretending to have designed a ‘unified theory’, the abundance of funds for this type of research, resulting in a lot of low-quality research, and finally the politicization of the subject, which could limit the academic freedom.

In this contribution the author focuses on the relationship between Islam and terrorism. Based on data from the Global Terrorism Database he argues that Islamic terrorism dominates worldwide since 2002. Paying attention to the creed of the jihadists, Salafism, he argues that it is a continuation of the puritanical tradition within Sunni Islam.

Like many other European countries the Netherlands experienced a major influx of refugees in the fall of 2015. A majority of the population supported providing shelter to the refugees, but not without worries and anxieties about the effects of that influx, which sometimes lead to limited, local forms of social unrest. A study was started to shed more light on the worries and fears that existed in the population, on the assumptions these were based upon and on whether these worries and fears could lead to social unrest on a larger scale. The study was explorative, based on an eclectic, multi methods approach. The findings show that worries and anxieties were not limited to those who were opposed to the influx of migrants, but existed among supporters as well. The worries and anxieties were of a diverse nature, on topics like security, livability, economics, perceived (in)justice and socio-cultural aspects of life. A clear, credible answer or policy from the government was missed. When compared to the findings of earlier studies on the influx of migrants, some worries and anxieties seemed closely connected to what might be expected, in other cases a distinct ‘disconnect’ was found. These could be understood however when distorting mechanisms were taken into consideration that have been described in studies of more general security perceptions. As the worries and anxieties on the influx of refugees resonated other existing worries, anxieties and fears in society, a ‘cocktail of concerns’ was created that, given the right trigger, could have led to social unrest on a larger scale.

Islamic scripture provides no definition of the caliphate and the term ‘Islamic state’ was coined for the first time in 1941. Pakistan and Iran call themselves an ‘Islamic republic,’ and ISIS has named itself an ‘Islamic State’ headed by a caliph. For many Muslims the term represents an ideal of a society that is just, peaceful and prosperous. That looks more like a utopian dream. So what is this Islamic state exactly? In this article we will answer that question by means of three approaches: the tenets of Islam, the historical and modern reality, and the wishes of the modern Muslims.

Various forms of organized crime are concentrated in the Dutch province of North Brabant, bordering Belgium. In this essay it is argued that specific historic, geographic, social economic, cultural and social psychological factors created an enduring window of opportunity in which criminality can flourish. Brabant is portrayed as a marginalized province that suffered from war, exploitation by the central government, rural gangs, a lack of law enforcement, extreme poverty as well as from discrimination because of its mainly catholic population. Against this background the population developed a mentality of solving problems on their own. Their survival strategies implied not only legal activities like agriculture and small-scale production in private houses, workplaces and factories, but also smuggling and illegal alcohol production. In more recent times the production of synthetic drugs, growing cannabis and transport criminality became widespread.