The New War: The Web of Crime That Threatens America's Security

By John Kerry

Book Overview

The New War is a powerful warning that global crime is robbing us not only of our money but also of our way of life. As a result of his Senate investigations and access to law enforcement agencies, Senator John Kerry has seen the dark world of dirty money, violence, and corruption up close. In this groundbreaking book, he describes global crime organizations from Asia to South America, Europe to Africa, and shows why they have become one of the greatest threats to our national security. Kerry takes us inside major crime organizations that now operate on the global stage: the Russian "Mafiya," which includes much of the old Soviet KGB; the Chinese triads, whose tentacles reach into many American cities; the Colombian drug cartels; the Japanese yakuza; and the Sicilian Mafia. Most important, in The New War Kerry maintains that the aim of the global crime lords is to gain control of the very institutions that are the core of civil society - the courts, legislatures, banks, and media in their own countries as well as in the nations where they operate. And he demonstrates how an antiquated legal system is struggling to fight twenty-first-century criminal enterprises. This is a hard-hitting and critical assessment of current government policies for dealing with international crime. Kerry reveals the failures of both diplomacy and nerve that have crippled leaders in Washington and other Western capitals, as well as in Moscow and Beijing. He explains how law enforcement and judicial institutions must be reformed structurally to defeat vicious criminals. His recommendations are specific: Shut down offshore banks that launder and shelter criminal profits; regulate electronic money transfers; expand the scope of extraterritorial jurisdiction for major crimes committed against a country's citizens overseas; use the CIA and other intelligence services to penetrate global crime organizations; share the seized assets of international criminals with governments that cooperate in fighting global crime.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684846144
• ISBN13: 9780684846149
• Release Date: June 1998
• Publisher: Touchstone Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 5.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent book ...Kerry is the foremost expert on terrorism in America

Excellent book ...While this book was written long before 9/11 and Islamic terrorism was not yet as deadly a threat as it is today, it is clear Kerry is extremely knowledgeable on international issues. His experience in Vietnam and after, on the Senate Foreign Relations Committe and background running a District Attorney's office combined with his deap knowedge of history make him the foremost expert on terrorism in America. America truly needs John Kerry to lead us out of the Iraq abyss and to renew the hunt for bin Laden. I GUARANTEE this: If 9/11 happened on Kerry's watch, bin Laden would be dead years ago.

Amazing effectiveness of propaganda

I am frankly amazed at just how effective a political ad can be. Bush starts running an ad criticizing this seven year old book for having the "wrong" focus for international terrorism, and not knowing things that the Bush admin itself has claimed not to know before Sept 2001.Within a week of the ad running, we've got half a dozen people posting here, quoting the ad. Did any of you even read the book first? Or are you really that blindly led by, not even a television program, but a television advertisement.Simply amazing. I really thought people were more sophisticated today than 50 years ago when TV ads were new. Obviously, I was wrong.

Insightful, proves Kerry's exhaustive knowledge of subject

Kerry easily writes about the Japanese yakuza and the Russian mafiya alonside Central American drug money laundering with a scholar's knowledge. When I read the reviews of this book that simply attack Kerry because he is "daring" to run against Bush this year, I am saddened. There is much in this book to admire and to learn from. It is clear that some reviewers haven't even read the book but instead want to blather about their political convictions.This book deals with an international threat to America that must be a concern for Democrats and Republicans. It is non-partisan.Kerry mines his experience in exposing the Iran-Contra Affair to show how corrupt politicians, mercenaries, off-shore banks, and the drug trade are all married.Buy this book for the politics, history, or crime non-fiction junkie in your family. It's a good read.

If more people had only read it then...

Like Winston Churchill in the 1930's, John Kerry seems to have recognized the impending danger ahead of time, but no one listened. Now, again like Churchill, he looks like may be callled upon to save his country.

The New War

Extraordinary book. It will give you chills. 5 years before 9/11 the author talked about the threat of terrorism. With prescience and intelligence he stated that "It will take only one mega-terrorist event in any of the great cities of the world to change the world in a single day." This guy is going to make a wonderful president.