I thought Mafia State by Luke Harding was a good read. He essentially describes the government, state security apparatus, police, Putin’s business buddies, and organised criminal gangs as one big continuum.
The other, more important motive is personal enrichment. On the face of it, this is a paradox: why pillage a country that you want to flourish? Though Harding doesn't explore it, the reasoning of the ruling class seems to go like this. In theory, and eventually, Russia must be great (ie, feared by others; the welfare of its citizens is not a big consideration). But this particular Russia, the one we have inherited, is a contemptible mess – and if we don't plunder it, someone else will.
The title of this book comes from one of the American diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and filleted by Harding for the Guardian (the other reason why the FSB had it in for him). In their portrayal of a virtual merger between the Russian state and organised crime, and a system built on kickbacks and extortion, the WikiLeaks files endorse the summary of the fictional Moscow correspondent in my novel, Snowdrops, who says that, in Russia, there are no politics or business stories: "There are only crime stories."
Engineering is the art of making what you want from what you can get at a profit.
It doesn't happen just in Russia. We have the example of Alcohol Prohibition in America. The Mafia owned Chicago. And New York. And controlled my town as a manufacturing and transport hub.
Fortunately Alcohol Prohibition was rescinded before the disease got too advanced.
But we know from that era that the police and the criminal gangs can form a symbiosis that is good for them and bad for the host.
========================================
My town has one of the highest murder rates in America. I think it is still a transport hub.
Engineering is the art of making what you want from what you can get at a profit.