This volume on penitentiary systems in the Americas offers a long-overdue look at the prisons that exist at the forefront of the ongoing struggle against drugs and violence throughout North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean. From Haiti to Bolivia, the authors examine the conditions in these systems, and allow several common themes to emerge, including the alarming prevalence of lengthy pre-trial detention and the often abysmal living conditions in these institutions. Taken toge...

This volume examines the relationship between states and organized crime. It seeks to add to the theoretical literature for analyzing the criminalization of the state. The volume also explores the nature of organized crime in countries throughout the Americas from Central America to the Southern Cone.

Changing patterns of energy production and consumption are transforming the geopolitics of the global system. The BRICS countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (not discussed in this volume), a loose conglomeration of emerging powers, are part of the change as are Western powers.Variations in the energy policies of the Americas, especially the United States and Canada, are altering existing dynamics. Both states are increasing energy production and are projected to...