McMafia: The Reality

Thank you to everyone that has signed up for this, but this event has already SOLD OUT! Unfortunately we will not be able to admit those without tickets on the night.

For those who have not managed to get a ticket, this event will be recorded and live streamed on the 7th. Watch this event live on the UCLTV YouTube channel.

The BBC's McMafia is an international thriller with Russian organised crime at its heart and London as its hub. But how realistic is the portrayal of Russian-managed drug and human trafficking rings all run from offices in the City? The Russian Embassy has hit out at what it calls the show's cliches, while the author Misha Glenny has defended his portrayal of global crime rings run from the former Soviet space. This SSEES roundtable brings together experts on the place of Russia in both the perpetration and the prosecution of transnational crime to navigate these murky waters. We will look at the long history of stereotypes of the Russian international criminal, and the present-day efforts to suppress organised crime in the region. Only SSEES can bring you this concentration of Russia-watchers, so join us on February 7 with all your McMafia questions! 

The panel will be:

Dr Mark Galeotti, Senior Research Fellow, the Institute of International Relations, Prague

Dr Philippa Hetherington, Lecturer in Modern Eurasian History, UCL SSEES

Dr Alexander Kupatadze, Lecturer, King`s Russia Institute & Department of European and International Studies

Professor Alena Ledeneva, Professor of Politics and Society, UCL SSEES

Chaired by: Dr Ben Noble, Lecturer in Russian Politics, UCL SSEES

This seminar is organised jointly by the the UCL SSEES Russian Studies Seminar Series and Post-Soviet Press Group.