Dr. Anja P. Jakobi, Royal Holloway, University of London.
This paper analyses the contact group against the background of other international initiatives against crime. I first elaborate on a typology of international coordination, ranging from international regimes to networks and ‘orchestrators’. The contact group represents a recently emerging type of organisation, closely linked to ideas of governance by expertise and including public-private interaction. I compare the group to other international efforts targeted at global crime, for example corruption, money laundering, human trafficking and drug trafficking. As the comparison shows, in particular the local focus of the contact group has helped bringing together a variety of actors and multiple levels to deliver solutions to a global problems. The model of the contact group, I argue, would be less successful in cases where the criminal activity is more wide-spread and more conflicting interests and veto-players would need to be moderated. Thus, the contact group has its main strength in implementation and delegation, less so in finding compromise across hugely disparate political camps. Please find the full paper here.