Sherwood 1

Globalized Crime
Examining the Affects of Globalization on
Transnational Crime

Travis Sherwood
November 30, 2011
POLS 354: Globalization
Principia College

Globalization is a topic that is being discussed more and more within the international
community because of its affects on so many faucets of life. Transnational crime is one of those
faucets that has been deeply influenced by globalization and its effects. It is incredible to think

Sherwood 2
that the turnover of the global criminal economy is roughly estimated at one trillion dollars.1 It
is very difficult for authorities to stop these crimes that are occurring all over the world because
criminal activity has usually been a security threat that is handled by a single nation. However,
because of globalizations affect on criminal activity that can span multiple states, it seems that a
single state can no longer restrict the activities of criminal organizations that operate globally.
International crime is an issue that has evolved and adjusted with globalization. Globalization
has allowed international crime to flourish while still allowing these criminal actors to remain
undetected. In order to trace how globalization is affecting the theory and practice of
international crime, clarity of the definition of globalization should be addressed along with what
constitutes international crime, the history and evolution of international crime, and the response
to global crime.
The definition of globalization can be extensive because the word describes what is
happening in many areas of politics, business, economics, technology, and specifically to the
issue of international criminal activity. A definition that attempts to summarize the vast
interpretations of globalization is a reduction of political barriers between national economies
resulting in a change of the state and the practice of sovereignty such that no particular entity can
operate on its own. This technology enabled acceleration produces a new complexity in
vulnerability that has cultural and social implications and requires adaptation across all
jurisdictions."2 With the vulnerability that has accompanied the reduction of barriers, criminal
activity on the international level has been able to reorganize to take advantage of the newly
1

Mark Galeotti, eds. Global Crime Today: The Changing Face Of Organised Crime, (London: Routledge,

Class Definition, POLS 354, Principia College, Oct. 27, 2011.

2005), 1.

Sherwood 3
constructed system that links all actors within the international system while eroding state
sovereignty. Dr. Victor Cha who has served on the National Security Council points out that
globalization includes the expansion of interaction processes within the global community, and it
occurs when more connections are made between local and global systems.3 Because of
globalization, state and non-state entities are able to communicate and participate within a much
more connected global community.
The idea of the world metaphorically becoming smaller due to globalization is prevalent
in discussions about the effects of globalization. States and other institutions are now more
equipped to become involved with one another because the issue of distance no longer applies in
todays world. Communication between these actors on a global stage has led to more business
developments, treaties, and even criminal networking. In his book, The World is Flat,
Thomas Friedman describes globalization as flattening the world by making states more
interconnected.4 This flattening allows more and more states and even individuals the
opportunity to have an influence on the international system. A flat world also implies that there
is more equality among states due to the processes of globalization. Contrarily, John Agnew a
professor of geography at UCLA does not completely agree with Freidmans implication that
states become more equal with globalization. John Agnews arguments in opposition to the
flattened world include his statement that weak but poor states have had nothing like the
economic success of the relatively strong but poor ones.5 States that have been able to maintain
3

Victor Cha, "Globalization and the Study of International Security," Journal of Peace Research 37.3
(2000): 392.
4
Thomas L. Friedman, The World Is Flat: A Brief History Of The Twenty-first Century, (New York: Farrar,
Straus And Giroux, 2005).
5
John Agnew, Globalization and Sovereignty, (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2009), 13.

Sherwood 4
sovereignty and resist influence from external actors have in some cases been able to become
successful in comparison with the states that have become dependents of more powerful nations.
Agnew also mentions that many regions of the world remain un-integrated including parts of
Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.6 Those areas are incapable of participating much
less competing in the international community. Agnew is being more pragmatic than Friedman
about how the world operates today. He recognizes that globalization has had an affect on
making the world smaller, however not all of the actors in the international system are playing
on the same level.
The traditional international relations theories of realism and liberalism cannot fully
define the affects of globalization on international crime. Both these theories are based off the
idea that the state is the main actor. The nation-state has most often played an important role in
the international system, but as globalization continues to shape the way we think about
international relations, the dominant role of the nation-state comes into question because of the
eroding nature of state sovereignty. Because of globalization, transnational crime groups threaten
the traditional international relations theories. As states become less attached to their territories
and borders become less distinguishable, crime groups are able to facilitate their crimes while
being able to remain undetected by authorities. Sovereignty is usually the factor that has
protected the nation-states status as the main actor and according to realism the only actor which
facilitates the international system. The traditional concept of the nation-state rests on the basis
of ironclad sovereignty; however globalization has and is continuing to affect this sovereignty
which in turn changes the traditional role of the nation-state. This sovereignty has also relied on
6

Ibid., 14.

Sherwood 5
the concepts of fair political processes and strong judicial systems, but transnational crime
threatens these concepts with political corruption. Shelley notes that the influence that organized
crime has in developing nations over the political sphere leads to criminalization of the political
process and a weakening of rule of law.7 This corruption of governing institutions erodes the
mandate of sovereignty if those who are considered the threats are running the politics of a
territory. An example that Agnew mentions where a non-state entity has challenged the
traditional sovereignty of the state is the role that the gangs of drug traffickers play in Mexico.8
They hold so much power and influence because of the revenue they bring in that they cannot be
contained by the state.
The traditional concept of the nation-state has also relied on autonomy in that states have
had the ability to make their own decisions without influence from external actors. Because
globalization has allowed criminal organizations to gain more influence in the international
community, states have lost this complete autonomy because they now have to take into account
these threats that criminal groups pose to sovereignty. Tomer Broude and Doron Teichman state
that local communities have an incentive to attract capital that can bring about increased
employment and economic prosperity. High crime rates deter foreign investors and impair
economic growth.9 In this way criminal organizations are negatively influencing the economic
stability and growth of the nation-states in which they are operating. And because these criminal
7

Louise Shelley, "The Globalization of Crime," In International Crime and Justice, ed. Mangai Natarajan,
(Boston: McGraw Hill, 2005), 3.
8
Agnew, Globalization and Soveriegnty, 4.
9
Tomer Broude and Doron Teichman, "Outsourcing and Insourcing Crime: The Political Economy of
Globalized Criminal Activity," Vanderbilt Law Review 62, no. 3 (2009): 6. Broude and Teichman also say that
because crime within a territory can dissuade investors from participating in their states, politicians and decision
makers will pass regulation that will cause the outsourcing of transnational crime. This outsourcing will cause the
criminal groups to move to other states with fewer regulations.

Sherwood 6
organizations are able (through the effects of globalization) to move in and out of multiple states,
they have the ability to wear down the sovereignty of many states through their operations.
States will not just standby and let their economies be ruined by the unappealing presence of
crime in their territory which is why many states choose to focus on strengthening their political
economy to deter crime groups from setting up shop in their state. This includes passing laws
and regulations that deter criminal organizations from favoring their states.
International or transnational crimes are illegal acts that transpire on a global scale. The
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(UNODC) notes that transnational organized crime
(TOC) is any serious transnational offence undertaken by three or more people with the aim of
material gain.10 These crimes can consist of drug, weapon, and human trafficking, financial
market manipulation, corruption of state governments, and money laundering.11 International
crime happens across borders which is why is it sometimes difficult for law enforcement to
determine the proper authorities for confronting and apprehending these criminal groups. The
UNODC says that the ability to detect organized crime is contingent on a police force with the
resources to take on the additional work, beyond the considerable case load involved in
responding to citizen complaints.12 Since these criminal groups are able to move between states
they can remain undetected as long as they maintain a low-profile within the community.
Human trafficking is one of the most dismal of these transnational crimes. The UNODC
reports that trafficking in person is truly a global phenomenon having gather data of victims from

10

The Globalization Of Crime: A Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment, (Vienna: United
Nations Office On Drugs And Crime, 2010), 1.
11
Shelley, "The Globalization of Crime," 6.
12
The Globalization Of Crime: A Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment, (Vienna: United
Nations Office On Drugs And Crime, 2010), 26.

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at least 127 countries.13 It is amazing that even though human trafficking has a presence in so
many nations, there is still little known about the groups that orchestrate the trafficking. Dr.
Maggy Lee an expert on migration and human trafficking notes that human trafficking is
inextricably linked to the tensions, disjuntures, and inequalities associated with globalization and
a differential freedom of movement.14 The fact that so many nations experience human
trafficking either as a starting or ending destination evidences the amount of influence that
globalization has had on this particular transnational crime.
The trafficking of drugs is the most lucrative of these transnational crimes, and
globalization has allowed this trade to greatly maximize its scope. Mangai Natarajan describes
the activities of drug traffickers and points out that traffickers are opportunistic and can be
expected to: market new drugs; seek out new routes to smuggle drugs; seek new partners among
organized crime groups in different countries; exploit new manufacturing and communication
technologies; recruit vulnerable individuals into the work of trafficking; and find ways to launder
the proceedings.15 These criminal organizations that utilize drug trafficking to profit are
unlikely to ever be completely eradicated because there is such a large market for drugs globally.
These crime groups run their drug cartels like businesses with divisions of production,
manufacturing, and sales. Because globalization has allowed for there to be more worldwide
interconnectedness, these drug groups are able to work with one another and have their drugs be
transported all over the world.

13

Ibid., 3.
Maggy Lee, Trafficking And Global Crime Control, (London: SAGE, 2010), 6.
15
Mangai Natarajan, eds. International Crime And Justice, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2011), 109.
14

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Cybercrime is one of the newest forms of transnational crimes that has had the ability to
surface because of globalization. Mark Galeotti lists three types of cases that come about under
cybercrime:
1.

Conventional crime committed with computers, such as digital child pornography, piracy, or

2.
3.

intellectual property theft, and forgery.

Attacks on computer networks; and
Conventional criminal cases such as drug trafficking, in which evidence exists in digital form. 16

These acts are committed over the internet and can happen from any location with a connection
to the internet. The technological advances related to globalization allow cybercrime to occur.
It is also very difficult for authorities to impede cybercrime when the locations of the criminals
can be so spread out. The ability for these criminals to target anyone with a computer allows
them to have ample opportunity to steal from people. They can send millions of emails, and if
only a small portion of these people become entrapped in these schemes, the cyber criminals are
still profitable. Cyber criminal are also able to target large corporation by hacking through their
system and gaining access to their sensitive materials. Galeotti mention Vladamir Levin who in
1994 hacked into the central wire transfer department of Citibank, and he was able to transfer
fund from corporate accounts to privately held accounts.17 The texts also note that some cyber
criminal simply hack into other computer systems just to see if they can. In 2000, a fifteen year
old boy from Canada immobilized Yahoo, Amazon, and other e-commerce sites by harnessing
the computing power of many systems, including those of the University of California at Santa
Barbra.18 These cyber criminals pose a big threat to governments and businesses who do not
want their private information to be accessible.
16

Galeotti, Global Crime Today, x.

Galeotti, Global Crime Today, 148.
18
Ibid., 149.
17

Sherwood 9
Globalization has definitely had an affect on how international criminal organizations
operate. Galeotti states, Organized crime in the new century will be characterized by a struggle
between an upperworld defined by increasingly open economic systems and democratic
politics, and a transnational, entrepreneurial, dynamic and richly varied underworld, willing and
able to use and distort these trends for its own ends.19 Criminal organizations have been able to
use these advances of globalization that have made businesses more successful to their own
advantage, and they have ultimately been able to improve their own operations. They are able to
use these advances to become more covert and also in their ability to make greater profits.
Another way that these criminal groups have utilizes the effects of globalization is by restricting
how they operate. In 2004, a United Nation High-Level Panel found that, Organized crime is
increasingly operating through fluid networks rather than more formal hierarchies. This form of
organization provides criminals with diversity, flexibility, low visibility, and longevity.20 This
system of networks is made possible by the advances in globalization. Criminal groups are more
able to spread themselves across many jurisdictions yet still have the ability to communicate and
act as a group. This new network system is very different than the ways in which these groups
used to be structured. According to the 2008 United States Department of Justices Strategy to
Combat International Organized Crime, International organized criminals have evolved toward
loose network structures and away from traditional hierarchical structures.21 Instead of
operating under one centralized head, these criminal groups have used the advantages of
19

Ibid., x.
Report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, A more secure world: our shared
responsibility, Attached to Note by the Secretary-General, A/59/565, 2 December 2004, para. 170.
21
US Department of Justice, Overview of the law enforcement strategy to combat international organized
crime, April 2008.
20

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globalization to spread out and make it much more difficult for security forces to restrict their
illegal practices.
It is important to analyze these hierarchical structures that used to define how these
criminal organizations operated. The UNODC describes these hierarchical structures that were
prevalent before globalization and says that they seem to refer to the kind of groups that emerge
in low-governance areas around the world, which have an institutional identity of their own and
typically engage in a wide range of criminal activities in the territories they control.22 When
there is not a strong security force within a particular area, a group will naturally rise up to
govern and defend the area. This is evident when thinking about mafias and gangs being tied to
their specific territories. The report from the UNDOC strengthens this argument by saying that
people and activities that the state fails to regulate tend to fall under the control of local actors,
who then vigorously defend this power from reacquisition by the state.23 This can however
have negative effects when these groups in power victimize those within their community.
Examples of this victimization include loan sharking, labour racketeering, and protection
rackets.24 Because of globalization, the hierarchical structure of criminal organizations no longer
is the sole practice for criminal groups.
The new body of practice emerging in international crime due to globalization is the
construction of loose networks rather than the hierarchical structure of the criminal groups of the
past. Shelley notes that the loose borders after the fall of the Soviet Union allowed for the post22

The Globalization Of Crime: A Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment, (Vienna: United
Nations Office On Drugs And Crime, 2010), 27.
23
The Globalization Of Crime: A Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment, (Vienna: United
Nations Office On Drugs And Crime, 2010), 27.
24
Ibid.

Sherwood 11
Soviet mafia to expand and become more developed.25 The manifestation of these loose
networks is a phenomenon that is closely tied with globalization. The reason that these loose
networks are able to operate is because organized crime is becoming increasingly inclusive:
people and groups with the right skills, contacts or territory can be accepted into the network so
long as they simply prove able to operate within the dominant culture.26 Todays crime groups
are no longer characterized by a single ethnicity, race, or language. The affects of globalization
have allowed them to be less exclusive in order to be more profitable. This also makes it more
difficult for authorities to target a single group or particular individuals when there is no distinct
image of what members of these groups should look like. This also allows more opportunities for
different criminal groups to cooperate and work together. Because there is no top down
authoritative structure, there can be an equal exchange between many points that are a part of
these loose criminal networks.
The concept of the body politic that Agnew refers to can be substituted in place for the
structure of criminal organizations in order to delineate how globalization has affected how
criminal groups are organizing themselves today. Agnew explains that the body politic is a
metaphor relating the state to a human body with the head controlling the other parts.27 Under
this traditional concept of how a state acts, the state must rely on its territory as it source of
power. Likewise, criminal groups would traditionally gain power by operating within and
defending their region. However, in both circumstances territory is less significant because
25

Shelley, Transnational Organized Crime: An Imminent Threat to the Nation-State? 601.

Galeotti, Global Crime Today, 3.
27
Agnew, Globalization and Sovereignty, 50.
26

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globalization has allowed actors to operate and have influence outside of their specified
territories. In Jan Aart Sholtes article What is Global about Globalization? he explains that
globalization has allowed for a growth of supranational relations between people, and also a far
reaching change in the nature of social space which transcends distance.28 Sholtes writes that
with globalization or deterritorialization, we are getting to a point where territory or the nationstate is not as significant to social relations. This is valuable to criminal groups because if there
is pressure from security forces in one particular area, the group can simply assemble somewhere
else. The transformation from the hierarchical structure to the system of networks shows how
globalization has allowed these criminal organizations to enhance their operations.
Movement is a particular effect of globalization that has greatly benefitted transnational
crime. People can live, work, and travel to many different places, and even though there are still
well defined state lines, deterritorialization has made movement more accessible. Telephone
calls, internet usage, and global transactions illustrate how actors (which include individuals) are
able to communicate and participate in social relations in multiple territories. Broude and
Teichman mention that as in legal markets, the profitability of crime differs between states due
to an array of factors, including the distance to consumer markets and the technological
infrastructure of the state.29 Criminal organizations will target territories that allow them
movement and have the adequate technological advances to manage their crimes. The idea of
distance shrinking is evidenced by the fact that we can have access to others halfway across the
world. Agnew discusses the distinctions between the social boundary and the state border and he
28

Jan Aart Scholte, Globalization: A Critical Introduction, (London : Macmillan, 2000), 42.
Broude and Teichman, "Outsourcing and Insourcing Crime: The Political Economy of Globalized
Criminal Activity," Vanderbilt Law Review 62, no. 3 (2009): 5.
29

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asserts, If social boundaries are universal and transcendental . . . state borders, in the sense of
definite borderlines, certainly are not.30 Because members of these criminal groups belong to
nation-states, they do have access to the mobility that all citizens maintain. For instance, the
European Union has allowed citizens of European states to move freely across borders in
Europe. Members of criminal groups that are citizens of one of those European nations have the
ability to operate throughout all of Europe. This could aid in trafficking, recruiting, and
anything that the criminal organization needs.
Technology which has spurred on globalization while at the same time being an effect of
globalization has also greatly benefitted transnational crime. Galeotti emphasizes this point and
states, As technology reshapes the world, so too it reshapes the underworld, from increasing the
ease of travel to introducing new illicit commodities to be sold, from counterfeit computer disks
to synthetic drugs.31 Technology has been very important to the advancement of criminal
groups. They are able to communicate and operate from all over the world using cell phones and
email. They are also able to recruit new members through social networking sites. Technology
allows these criminal organizations to widened their scope and facilitate more projects around
the world. Technological advances put new tools in the hands of criminals, from internet
banking to the security and flexibility of the digital cell phone.32 Globalization and technology
empower individuals to influence the international system in ways that have never before been
experienced.

30

Agnew, Globalization and Sovereignty, 62.

Galeotti, Global Crime Today, 4.
32
Galeotti, Global Crime Today, 4-5.
31

Sherwood 14
Non-traditional international relations concepts help to explain the affect of globalization
on transnational crime. It is interesting to see how authorities are now choosing to confront
these global crime groups. Aas states, Neo-liberal forms of government encourage the public,
local communities, neighborhood watch groups, businesses and other institutions to become
active agents in providing their own security, rather than relying on the state to do.33 Instead of
the state having the sole responsibility for providing security for its citizens, governments are
encouraging their citizens to be proactive in ensuring their individual security. An example on
college campuses is when mass cell phone text messages are sent to warn students and faculty of
a threat. The fact that actors other than states are now taking steps to protect themselves and the
community shows how this age of globalization is changing traditional concepts.
The process of globalization and how it has increased the international reach of business
has also benefited organized crime. Shelley validates the affect of globalization on crime when
she mentions that the growth in transnational illegal activities is largely due to the increasingly
international scope of legitimate business and the ease with which it is conducted.34 The
benefits that globalization has manifested for the business community has also benefitted
criminal organizations. These organizations run like businesses, and globalization has allowed
these groups to expand and grow on an international scale. Paul Battersby, Joseph M. Siracusa,
and Sasho Ripiloski support the idea that criminal groups act parallel to the operations of
legitimate business when they mention that the interconnectedness of global communications
permits criminals to operate in a singular global space, moving people, material, and finance
33

Katja Franko Aas, Globalization & Crime, (Los Angeles: SAGE, 2007), 135-136.
Louise I. Shelley, Transnational Organized Crime: An Imminent Threat to the Nation-State? Journal of
International Affairs, vol. 48, no. 2 (1995): 602.
34

Sherwood 15
across a global checkerboard of nation-states in transactions mediated through the global
information superhighway.35 In this way international criminal groups are able to imitate the
activities of transnational corporations. Their main goal, like any business, is to maximize their
profits, and globalization has definitely helped to propagate crime on a global scale.
Many of the authors who speculate over the threats of international crime do discuss what
should be done to confront these criminal organizations. The UNODC notes that in order to
successfully stop these criminal organizations a police force able to resist the corrupting
influence of organized crime groups, whose resources may far exceed those in law enforcement
is required.36 In some cases, especially in countries with weak justice systems, law enforcement
can be paid off by these criminal groups resulting in corruption and the continuation of the
criminal acts. If the security forces confronting these organizations are not well equipped or
adequately compensated for their work against these criminal groups, corrupting officials will be
effortless for these crime networks. The UNODC also mentions that it is difficult to successfully
impede transnational crime because many of the offences are victimless, in the sense that none
of the parties participating has any interest in bringing the matter to the attention of the police.37
This is true for the parties buying the drugs or small arms, and in cases of human trafficking, the
people being trafficked are unable to go to the police because they are so restricted and guarded
by these criminal groups.
Shelley and Hough also present ways with which states can combat transnational crime.
A method that Hough includes in his article is for states to support institutions fighting
35

Paul Battersby and Joseph M. Siracusa and Sasho Ripiloski, Crime Wars: The Global Intersection Of
Crime, Political Violence, And International Law, (Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2011), 3.
36
The Globalization Of Crime: A Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment, (Vienna: United
Nations Office On Drugs And Crime, 2010), 26.
37
Ibid., 1.

Sherwood 16
transnational crime. States can become more active in participating and supporting international
institutions targeted at cracking down on global crime such as Interpol, the World Customs
Organization (WCO), Europol, and the United Nations.38 Supporting these institutions does not
necessarily mean that a state will be combating organized crime in their own state, but they
would be supporting a global effort to reduce crime.
Strong legislation pointed at impeding transnational crime is also a method that would
slow the growth of organized crime. Shelley suggests that a successful policy must seek
international harmonization in legislation combating crimes in the areas of banking, security law,
customs and extradition in order to reduce the opportunities for criminal activity and minimize
the infiltration of transnational organized crime groups into legitimate business.39 States would
have to work together to ensure their laws are parallel so that transnational criminal
organizations are tried under the same code of laws.
Cooperation between law enforcement is also a highly valued strategy for combating global
organized crime. Shelley suggests that states construct a coordinated law enforcement
campaign in order to share information and be better able to confront organized crime groups as
a united force.40 The concept of bringing together local, regional, national, and eventually
international law enforcement sounds like a good idea, but realistically, a coordinated team of
global law enforcement would be difficult to establish. The intelligence sharing between law
enforcement would be a great way to better impede transnational organized crime because

38

Hough, Understanding Global Security, 240-244.

Shelley, Transnational Organized Crime: An Imminent Threat to the Nation-State? 616.
40
Shelley, Transnational Organized Crime: An Imminent Threat to the Nation-State? 616.
39

Sherwood 17
criminals would not just be able to cross a border to escape justice. If this system were to be
implemented, it is possible that there could be a decrease in the amount of transnational crime.
Another problem with trying to stop these transnational crime groups is that another
group can be resurrected just as soon as authorities congregate on a particular territory. The
UNODC notes that even if these individuals are arrested and incarcerated, the activities
continue, because the illicit market, and the incentives it generates, remains.41 This is
especially true for drug trafficking because they is always a demand for drugs which can include
marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and any other type of drug that is used for substance abuse.
Examples of particular organized criminal groups that have used globalization to their
advantage are the Mexican drug cartels. They are able to communicate with other criminal
organizations all over the world. It is reported that these cartels have member and associates
from terrorist cells, international espionage agencies, and foreign military services.42 The
cartels are able to operate more effectively with the ability to contact and collaborate with other
criminal groups. Because of the effects of globalization, the Mexican drug cartels are also able
to expand past just the trafficking of drugs and traffic weapons, money, extortion, blackmail,
assassination, sabotage, money laundering, identity theft, corruption, and violence.43
Globalization made the existing criminal organizations more expansive and threatening.
41

The Globalization Of Crime: A Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment, (Vienna: United
Nations Office On Drugs And Crime, 2010), 3.

42

Robert Tilford, Mexican Drug Cartels Made Up of a Hybrid of the Worst of Organized Crime,

Examiner, November 13, 2011. http://www.examiner.com/city-buzz-in-charlotte/mexican-drug-cartels-made-up-ofa-hybrid-of-the-worst-of-organized-crime.

43

Ibid.

Sherwood 18
Hough mentions the growth of global criminal alliances and explains that
transnational crime is also increasing due to cooperation between transnational criminal
organizations.44 Criminal organizations teaming up to maneuver bigger crimes definitely seems
like it would increase the crime rate of transnational criminal organizations. Shelley also
discusses the cooperation between organized crime groups, but she says that the cooperation
does not yet present a consolidated threat to the established political order.45 Because of the
development of transnational organizations to date, I think states should begin to figure out how
to stop transnational crime from growing further before these criminal organizations are able to
present a consolidate threat to the worlds government structures.
Conclusion
Globalization has played a big role in influencing the development of organized crime. As
globalization has continued to influence society, it has only aided these transnational crime
groups. They are better able to conduct their crimes by widening their scopes and gaining more
profit. The advances in technology that fall in line with globalization have made these global
criminal organizations into more of a threat towards nation-states and the traditional concepts of
how the international system should run. The criminal groups that are acting on a global level
have more power and influence in the international community than they have ever had before
because of all of the benefits of globalization. The ability to move and expand gives the
opportunity for criminal organizations to become more effective, either at conducting criminal
processes or evading law enforcement. These crime organizations are benefitting from the way
44
45

Peter Hough, Understanding Global Security. 2nd ed. (New York: Routledge, 2008), 238.
Shelley, Transnational Organized Crime: An Imminent Threat to the Nation-State? 604.

Sherwood 19
they can communicate around the world with their illicit business connections. They can
become involved in multiple types of criminal activities in multiple territories.
Globalization has also changed how authorities should confront these transnational crime
groups. To fight transnational organized crime, states should initiate cooperation between
different levels of law enforcement within the state and internationally. Because of the
development of these criminal groups, law enforcement on all levels have had to step-up their
security efforts. Even with new security measures, criminal groups can work unscathed for
years without pushback from criminal justice organizations because of all the planning and effort
that security forces must do in order to catch these criminals.
The affect that globalization has had on transnational crime has been beneficial to these
criminal groups. It has changed the way we view the traditional international relations theories
because it puts another actor, separate from the state, into the mix of international relations.

Sherwood 20
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