Two visiting Fellows and a Head of Teaching are the latest additions to the LSE IDEAS International Drug Policy Project (IDPP). Each brings world class expertise in their specific issue area and will contribute to IDEAS' continued engagement in policy debate and design in the post-war on drugs era.
Said IDEAS Director, Professor Michael Cox:
“LSE IDEAS, a globally recognised hub for foreign policy and international affairs expertise, continues to solidify its position as a centre for global drug policy studies with these appointments.
With expertise in policing reform, transnational organised crime, and the link between drug markets and illicit financial flows we continue to bring new levels of expertise on the key issues that will enable the world to design holistic and effective global drug policies for the coming century.”
Ana Linda Solano has been appointed an IDPP Visiting Fellow studying illicit financial flows. She is a Colombian Lawyer who currently serves as an Advisor to the Prosecutor General in matters of investigation of criminal economies and asset forfeiture, towards a post-conflict scenario, and related themes.
She brings a particular expertise in design and management of specialised investigation units (Judicial Police) and designing and implementation of new models of criminal investigation as well as experience in managing training programs for prosecutors and investigators.
Commenting on her appointment Ms Solano said:
“I am delighted to join LSE IDEAS and become part of LSE's community. LSE IDEAS boasts a world leading multidisciplinary and strategic approach to policy design and implementation. Further, the Drugs Project has a strong expertise on the regional and Colombian context and an extensive network of experts and collaborators. For me, joining IDPP provides the perfect environment to develop a research project that will not only have policy significance but will also be policy actionable, transforming ideas into actions.”
Mark Shaw has been appointed an IDPP Visiting Senior Fellow. He is Director of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime, a global policy and practitioner network based in Geneva.
He is also the National Research Foundation Professor of Security and Justice at the Centre of Criminology, University of Cape Town. Mark worked for over ten years at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). He has worked extensively on illicit trafficking and organised crime in conflict and post-conflict countries.
Prior to joining the UN, he held positions in the South African government and civil society where he worked on issues of public safety and urban violence in the post-apartheid transition. He has spent the last two years working on illicit markets and organised crime in South Africa. His book on this subject is due out in 2017. He is currently working on a study of the effectiveness of the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime.
Commenting on his appointment, Shaw said:
“It’s fantastic to have an association with LSE, and I look forward to working together with IDEAS on one of the key policy questions of our age and one on which the Global Initiative is focussed: how to more effectively respond to global illicit markets at a time when the tools for doing so seem ineffective and state actors and the multilateral system often appear powerless to act?”
Dr Michael Shiner will be joining IDPP as Head of Teaching for the Project. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Policy at LSE.
Michael has published widely around the place and meaning of illicit drug use in late industrial societies, including patterns of use and desistance; drug law enforcement; and the politics of drug control. He is author of Drug Use and Social Change: The Distortion of History (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) and co-author of The Numbers in Black and White: Ethnic Disparities in the Policing and Prosecution of Drug Offences in England and Wales (Release, 2013, with Niamh Eastwood and Daniel Bear). Michael is a member of the Global Drug Survey’s Expert Advisory Board and a founder member of Stopwatch, which campaigns for fair and effective use of police stop and search.
Commenting on his appointment, Dr Shiner said:
“I am delighted to be joining IDEAS IDPP and help develop the important work it is doing. Drug policy is in a state of flux. As support for prohibition fragments, it is more important than ever that we are realistic and evidence-based in our thinking about what to do next. Teaching at the International Drug Policy Project has an important part to play in this process, informing students, practitioners and decision-makers about the realities of drug policy, making for a more effective and more humane response.”
IDPP, in its 2016 report, ‘After the Drug Wars’, signed by five Nobel Prize winners and the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, called for a more comprehensive global approach to drug issues, one which prioritises the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the prohibitionist and repressive policies of the past. To do this requires a new generation of research and implementation design beginning with specific issue area experts. With this in mind IDEAS has appointed visiting fellows with proven track records from government and academia.
Said Dr John Collins, Executive Director of IDPP:
“LSE IDEAS has a proven track record of leading global drug policy discussions. Reducing the impacts of drugs, drug markets and drug policies on societies around the world will be key global issues as states look towards implementing the Sustainable Development Goals. We are delighted to have such high calibre individuals joining us for the coming academic year and helping to engage LSE students and faculty in these important debates.”