One month after the stunning assassination of the brother of an anti-gangland activist, French president Emmanuel Macron returning to the Mediterranean port for an update on the government’s plan to win back the streets and offer hope to fed-up citizens of France’s second largest city. The whole reason Ahmed Kessaci became an activist was the earlier murder of his older half-brother, who got mixed up with the wrong crowd.

La comparaison entre les groupes de narcotrafiquants français et les organisations criminelles italiennes fait florès. Mais les spécialistes notent plusieurs différences dans leurs logiques, même si l’implantation territoriale les préoccupe de plus en plus.

Le triptyque production, commerce, gouvernance : un nouveau cadre d’analyse du crime organisé
Depuis des décennies, la criminalité organisée a été abordée comme le fait de groupes hiérarchiques et durables. Une vision incomplète et inopérante pour la lutte contre le crime organisé, d’après les recherches de Federico Varese, professeur des universités en sociologie au CEE.

It was a murder that shocked France and alarmed the government. Mehdi Kessaci, the younger brother of anti-drug activist Amine Kessaci, was shot and killed in broad daylight on November 13 in what authorities believe was a warning to silence Amine. Thousands joined a silent march in Marseille to pay tribute to the slain 20-year-old. Our guest Federico Varese is an expert on organised crime in Europe.

Grand entretien. Le meurtre de Mehdi Kessaci à Marseille connaît un retentissement sur tout le continent. Federico Varese, spécialiste italien du crime organisé en Europe, établit le parallèle avec les pratiques mafieuses en Italie.

How has creative culture shaped the public's understanding of the Mafia? What role do literature, photography, and cinema play in both perpetuating and challenging myths, stereotypes, and the often glamorized portrayals of the Mafia—particularly among younger audiences? What use does the Mafia make of these depictions? How do narrative choices, visual framing, and language either reinforce silence or foster critical awareness and collective action against organized crime?

This session at Sciences Po brings together Federico Varese, Professor of Sociology and author, and Sabrina Pisu, journalist and author, to discuss these issues.

In 1974, David Cornwell visited Hong Kong, just prior to the publication of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the seventh novel he had published as “John le Carré”. In that book’s typescript, a character rushes in a panic from Hong Kong Island to the old airport, then in Kowloon. To get there, he takes the Star Ferry. Bemused, a local contact who had read the text asked the author if his novel was set in the present. Why? Because the time-saving Cross-Harbour Tunnel had opened to road traffic in 1972.

La chiave per comprendere gli avvenimenti di Rio de Janeiro è duplice. La criminalità organizzata controlla in modo capillare vaste aree della città e del Paese, mentre la politica–divisa tra livello statele e federale--si affida ad operazioni brutali ma di facciata, simili a quelle di Donald Trump.

One of the observations people make about President Trump, especially those who have borne the brunt of his attacks, is that he reminds them of a Mafia don.

The New York mafia is still kicking—and it may be more powerful than experts believed.
Several members of New York City’s most prominent crime families were among the dozens of people arrested on Thursday in connection with rigged poker games that federal officials say involved tens of millions of dollars and high-profile NBA figures.