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Jacob Sims

Jacob Sims

Jacob Sims is a columnist for The Diplomat, a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University’s Asia Center, and a leading expert voice on transnational crime and human rights in Southeast Asia.

Jacob Sims is a leading expert on transnational crime and human rights in Southeast Asia. He is a Fellow at Harvard University’s Asia Center and serves as a formal advisor to multiple government agencies, think tanks and NGOs working on related issues. Sims previously served as a Visiting Expert at the US Institute of Peace and in leadership roles at the country (Cambodia), regional, and global level at International Justice Mission where he helped spearhead the world’s initial response to the now global crisis arising from Southeast Asia’s scam economy. His analysis and commentary feature regularly in major media outlets, and global thought leadership forums.

Posts by Jacob Sims
July 17, 2025

Reform Theater: Don’t Be Taken In By Cambodia’s Cybercrime Crackdown Promises

By Jacob Sims
A closer look at this week’s “leaked” directive reveals a well-rehearsed strategy to consolidate elite criminal control and stave off external pressure.

July 15, 2025

Moving a Mafia State: Why Thailand’s Punch Lands Harder Than America’s

By Jacob Sims
If you want to influence Cambodia's regime, you must pressure its criminal economy – not just its formal trade.
May 30, 2025

Autocratic Leaders Are Using Sovereignty as a Shield

By Jacob Sims
As norms collapse and repression globalizes, authoritarian regimes are weaponizing sovereignty to deflect accountability – and they’re winning.

May 02, 2025

Inflection Point: What to Do When the State is the Syndicate?

By Jacob Sims and Mark B. Taylor
A new UN report exposes the scam industry’s global growth – but countering it demands realism about sovereign complicity.

February 28, 2025

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

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

January 15, 2025

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

By Jacob Sims
As the harms of Cambodia's criminalized political economy ripple outward, governments in the region and further afield must move beyond their muted, incoherent response.
November 29, 2024

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

By Jacob Sims
Tens of thousands of people have been trafficked and abused by the region's scam syndicates, but governments are often reluctant to recognize them as "victims."

October 24, 2024

The Release of Mech Dara: Speaking Truth to Power

By Jacob Sims
Strong international pressure plus U.S. concessions have forced the hand of Cambodia's kleptocratic elite.

October 22, 2024

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

By Jacob Sims
Efforts to obscure or de-center state involvement in regional transnational crime are dangerous, because traditional approaches won’t work to counter crime co-perpetrated by states.

October 01, 2024

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

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

September 13, 2024

The Sanctioning of Ly Yong Phat: Milestone or Mirage?

By Jacob Sims
Will new U.S. sanctions on one of Cambodia’s most prominent state-affiliated kingpins signal a turning point for Cambodian state organized crime?
June 27, 2024

More Than a Ranking

By Jacob Sims
How the U.S. State Department's latest Trafficking in Persons report could protect trafficking victims and American taxpayers alike.

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