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Jacob Sims

Jacob Sims

The Diplomat

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Big Moves and Illusions of Reform in Southeast Asia’s Scam Industry

The forced cybercrime industry in Southeast Asia is thriving despite "crackdowns" by its criminal hosts. Will global action match the scale of the...

01.03.2025 10

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

Coercion and Criminality: Cambodia’s Dual Threat to Regional and Global Stability

As the harms of Cambodia's criminalized political economy ripple outward, governments in the region and further afield must move beyond their muted,...

15.01.2025 10

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

Debating Victimhood: The Complexities of Forced Criminality in Southeast Asia’s Scam Compounds

According to recent estimates, the cyber-enabled fraud industry operating out of the Mekong sub-region may now boast a labor force in excess of...

29.11.2024 10

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

The Release of Mech Dara: Speaking Truth to Power

Strong international pressure plus U.S. concessions have forced the hand of a the country's kleptocratic elite.

24.10.2024 3

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

Evictions and Evasions: State Involvement in Southeast Asia’s ‘Golden Era of Organized Crime’

Efforts to obscure or de-center state involvement in regional transnational crime are dangerous, because traditional approaches won’t work to...

22.10.2024 10

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

The Arrest of Mech Dara (Part I): Repression and Retaliation

How one journalist’s plight reveals the need for global solidarity against criminal autocracy in Cambodia.

01.10.2024 3

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims

The Sanctioning of Ly Yong Phat: Milestone or Mirage?

Will new U.S. sanctions on one of Cambodia’s most prominent state-affiliated kingpins signal a turning point for Cambodian state organized crime?

12.09.2024 3

The Diplomat

Jacob Sims