International Drug Trafficking: Past, Present, and Prospective Trends

Author(s):  
Luca Giommoni ◽  
R.V. Gundur ◽  
Erik Cheekes

Since the early 20th century, the illegal drug trade has received increasing focus throughout the world. However, the use of mind-altering substances predates attempts to prohibit or regulate them. Early control efforts date back to the teachings of Mohammed in the Koran, though wider-scale control efforts did not occur until the 18th century. Since that time, both the production of mind-altering substances and their regulation or prohibition has been commonplace throughout the world. Several illicit markets exist in response to the ongoing demand. Four notable products are cocaine, heroin, cannabis, and synthetically produced, mind-altering substances that are sold predominantly to users in North America and Europe. The production, transportation, and usage of these substances are all impacted by the histories and geographies of the producer, intermediary, and user countries. Shifts in tolerance of certain substances; geopolitical events, such as war; international policy and policing initiatives, such as the implementation of the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 and improved means of detecting illicit payloads at international boarders; and changes in demand for specific products have all influenced how trafficking routes and the organizations that participate in the drug trade form and adapt. Regardless of these changes, one constant is that no aspect of the drug trade has ever been dominated by a single, monolithic organization; several illicit enterprises have historically come together to form the often supply global chains. In the 2011, the first darknet market, the Silk Road, emerged as a means by which some buyers and sellers could connect, thus potentially reducing the links of the supply chain. Ongoing changes in technology as well as shifts in the regulatory frameworks on controlled substances will impact illicit substances that are sold and how buyers and sellers interact, and will require innovated research strategies to evaluate their evolution.

Author(s):  
Salvatore Ciriacono

The principal aim of my essay is looking at the presence and the role of  the European and particularly Italian merchants on the so called “Silk Road” during the 17th and 18th century. We have to remember that this expression was introduced by the German geologist Ferdinand von Richthofen, a topic that is receiving a growing attention from the contemporary historians. Indeed this focus is connected to the attention that is given by contemporary economic/political actors to the fortune of the Chinese economy. It is not an accident that Chinese advance is seen by many as the cause of the declining role of Western economies inside the world market.


AJIL Unbound ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 291-295
Author(s):  
Antonia Eliason ◽  
Robert Howse

Human rights and the UN drug control regime have long had an uneasy relationship, which is evident today in the tensions that exist between criminal justice reform advocates, the institutions of the UN drug control regime, and economic interests that stand to benefit from decriminalization and legalization efforts. The UN drug control regime's relationship with human rights cannot be properly discussed without acknowledging its colonial and racist roots. From the earliest agreement on drug control in 1909, born out of the crisis of opium dependency caused by the forced opening of China to trade in opium by the British, to the 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, which was a product of America's war on drugs, international efforts to regulate drugs have never been for the benefit of those who have suffered the most from both the supply of drugs and its criminalization. The war on drugs has been a global war from the beginning, arising out of colonial structures that centered white/European racial dominance. The inadequacies of the international drug regime and current efforts to reform it are rooted in this historical legacy. In light of this, we argue that efforts by international bodies to center human rights in the discussion on reforming the UN drug control regime are, so far, insufficient. Only through recognizing the power imbalances at play can we advance the possibility of a system that values individuals and responds to a changing landscape where corporate interests are coming to the table in the context of decriminalization and legalization.


Antiquity ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (291) ◽  
pp. 218-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinne Roughley ◽  
Andrew Sherratt ◽  
Colin Shell

The megalithic monuments of Carnac, Brittany, in the Département of the Morbihan, are amongst the most farnous in France. indeed in the world. This region has not only the densest conccntration of such sites in Europe but also retained its importance as a centre of monument-building from the late 5th to the :jrd millennium FK:, giving it a unique significance in the study of Neolithic landscapes (Sherratt 1990; 1998). Its menhirs, stone alignments, and megalithic tombs have attracted the attention of scholars since the 18th century, and there is thus an unusually full record, both written and pictorial, of the nature of these monuments as they were perceived over 300 years.


Author(s):  
Andrejs Vilks ◽  
Aldona Kipane

The spreading of COVID-19 since March 2020 has had a profound and irreversible impact on all spheres of life around the world. The long-term impact of the pandemic with unpredictable consequences will also be observed in the field of education. The aim of the article is to analyse the potential impact of COVID-19 on the providing of qualitative legal education.  Full-fledged assurance of the qualitative education is linked to common conditions for acquiring of knowledge, skills and competences. There are certain specifics in obtaining legal education, especially higher education. It is related to a combination of circumstances that are relevant to the specific knowledge, skills and competences to be acquired by lawyers and legal assistants. In 2020 a new standard for the legal profession was approved, which not only defines new qualitative requirements for the relevant profession, but also determines the need to make adjustments in the relevant study programs. The process of implementing and performing qualitative legal education in the current circumstances is being transformed in line with the international   and national regulatory frameworks in the context of management of COVID-19. As research methods descriptive, analytical and synthetic methods are used by the authors. 


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
Kawanishi Takao

Abstract John Wesley (1703-91)is known as the founder of Methodism in his time of Oxford University’s Scholar. However, about his Methodical religious theory, he got more spiritual and important influence from other continents not only Oxford in Great Britain but also Europe and America. Through Wesley’s experience and awakening in those continents, Methodism became the new religion with Revival by the spiritual power of “Holy Grail”. By this research using Multidisciplinary approach about the study of Legend of Holy Grail’s Knight, - from King Arthur and Knights of the Round Table in the Medieval Period, and in 18th century Wesley, who went to America in the way on ship where he met the Moravian Church group also called Herrnhut having root of Pietisms, got important impression in his life. After this awakening, he went to meet Herrnhut supervisor Zinzendorf (1700-60) in Germany who had root of a noble house in the Holy Roman Empire, - and to Legend of Holy Grail’s Knight Opera “Parsifal” by Richard Wagner at Bayreuth near Herrnhut’s land in the 19th century, Wesley’s Methodism is able to reach new states with the legend, such as the historical meaning of Christianity not only Protestantism but also Catholicism. I wish to point out Wesley’s Methodism has very close to Legend of Holy Grail’s Knight. In addition, after the circulation in America, in the late 19th century Methodism spread toward Africa, and Asian Continents. Especially in Japan, by Methodist Episcopal Church South, Methodism landed in the Kansai-area such international port city Kobe. Methodist missionary Walter Russel Lambuth (1854-1921) who entered into Japan founded English schools to do his missionary works. Afterward, one of them became Kwansei-Gakuin University in Kobe. Moreover, Lambuth such as Parsifal with Wesley’s theories went around the world to spread Methodism with the Spirit’s the Legend of Holy Grail’s Knight as World Citizen.


Author(s):  
Y. Yin

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> In 17&amp;ndash;18<sup>th</sup> century, the spread of the image of the Qing Imperial Garden witnessed the cross-cultural exchanges and promoted the development of English Landscape Garden style. The reciprocal ‘far away foreign land’ between Chinese and British cultures and the influence of historical context had caused the discrepant view of European on Chinese gardens. This project focuses on the differences of cultural heritage values found in the two kinds of gardens: from the design of space and structure, poems and paintings representing designers' concepts, humanities factors, design conception, gardening elements and etc. Which hopes to fill up the gaps of relevant studies and stress the importance of documentation for gardens between the East and West. There are three aspects to illustrate the inner differences under the surface similarities between the two kinds of gardens. Firstly, the distortion and discontinuity through out the introduction and translation.This research attempts to cross-examine such an argument through an investigation into the journey to the West by the carrier of Chinese Imperial garden ideas. Then the meaning of ‘views of nature’ in the English Landscape Garden was inconsistent with the Chinese concept of ‘natural state of the world’. Thirdly, the differences of historical background, culture and values between the Qing Imperial Garden and the English Landscape Garden. All in all, this research could well invite a more factually-based understanding of the Sino-English architectural interactions as well as the Chinese contributions to the world architecture.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 95-102
Author(s):  
Andriy Danylevskyi ◽  
◽  
Yuliya Danylevska ◽  

The public danger of illegal drug trafficking, drug addiction and related phenomena is obvious; therefore the world community is making significant efforts to counter these phenomena, because only through joint efforts it is possible to ensure an effective counteraction to drug trafficking. For this purpose, states adopt a significant number of international normative legal acts. The issues of countering the illegal drug trafficking, psychotropic substances, their analogues and precursors are considered both within the framework of general documents on combating crime, and in special acts. Taking into account the European integration course of Ukraine, the expansion of international cooperation in the sphere of combating the illegal drug trafficking drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues and precursors, the following issues should be marked as ones of great importance: observance by Ukraine of its international legal obligations; integration into the world system of counteracting drug trafficking; bringing national legislation in line with the provisions of international regulatory legal acts. This article is devoted to the outlined questions. In particular, the provisions of the national legislation in the sphere of illegal drug trafficking, psychotropic substances, their analogues and precursors are analyzed, and the compliance of domestic norms with international regulatory legal acts in the sphere of combating illegal drug trafficking is concluded. The classification of international regulatory legal acts in the sphere of illegal drug trafficking in dependence to the authority that issued them is given. On the basis of the conducted analysis, the author suggests ways to further improvement of the domestic criminal legislation in the sphere of combating drug trafficking. In particular, it is proposed to criminalize the sowing and cultivation of any kind of narcotic drugs, as well as to partially revise the punishment for certain drug crimes.


Knygotyra ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 35-95
Author(s):  
Sondra Rankelienė

In this article, the latest data about the personal book collection items of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Sigismund II Augustus in Vilnius University (VU) Library are presented. The authors that have been doing research on these books have not ascertained all of the embossed images that were used for cover decoration and have not identified the locations of where these books were bound and have not disclosed all of the provenances. In order to amend the lack of knowledge about the books of Sigismund II Augustus in VU library, the book covers of the King’s personal library were reviewed de visu and decorative ornaments were described. The ownership signs of the books were registered once again. While describing and comparing these books with the copies in various libraries of the world, the number of physical books (14) and publications in composite volumes (21) kept in VU library was assessed. The name of one book and a publisher’s imprint of two books were specified, eight provenances that were not mentioned by previous authors were registered. While describing book covers, the embossed images were given provisory names. Connections between the supralibros, dates of binding, decorative wheels, single embossed images, and other decorative elements were detected and lead to a reasonable conclusion that eight out of fourteen books from the Sigismund II Augustus collection were bound in Kraków, five were bound by bookbinders in Vilnius, while one was rebound in the 18th century. The identification of tools used by craftsmen that worked in Kraków and Vilnius will allow to ascertain the manufacturing location of similar book covers made in the middle of the 16th century.


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