The Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University has launched a new research center focused on the study of transnational crime, corruption, and the networks that sustain them.
The new center, called the Corruption, Networks, and Transnational Crime Research Center (CONTRA), is designed to advance research into the global systems and relationships that enable criminal activity across borders. The initiative builds on the Schar School’s existing work in international security, governance, and illicit economies.
CONTRA will bring together faculty from multiple disciplines to examine how corruption, informal networks, and criminal organizations interact and influence global stability and governance. The center’s work will focus on analyzing the structures behind transnational criminal activity and the broader impacts these networks have on international order.
The center’s leadership and research team will use a combination of empirical research, data analysis, and interdisciplinary approaches to better understand the dynamics behind transnational crime.
CONTRA builds on the legacy of the Schar School’s Terrorism, Transnational Crime, and Corruption Center (TraCCC), which was founded by Distinguished University Professor Emerita Louise I. Shelley and was the first academic center in the United States dedicated to examining the connections between terrorism, corruption, and transnational criminal activity.
CONTRA will launch its public programming with a conference titled “From Cartels to Combatants: The Intense Militarization of America’s Drug War,” scheduled for March 23 at FUSE 1311 at Mason Square. The event will explore the legal, diplomatic, and strategic implications of classifying certain transnational criminal organizations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
The event is free and open to the public, though registration is required here.
(AI was used in part to facilitate this article.)
