The Rise of Criminal Organizations in Globalized Era

Essay by nis_simUniversity, Bachelor'sA, June 2009

download word file, 6 pages 1.0

Globalization has positively effected many areas in our lives: advancement in healthcare with the ability to share and compare medical research worldwide, profound economic effects, promoting trade liberalisation allowing access to a wider range of commodities and the possibility to participate in beneficial economic activities, as well as the bolstering of foreign relations are a few of the many advantages gained through globalization.

However the effects of globalization are not exclusively positive, there are negative consequences. Faster and freer movements of people, goods and information has generated many new challenges, including the creation of new categories of crime and vulnerability to trans-national crime.

This paper will discuss the correlation between globalization and an increase in criminal organizations subsequently showing the extent of the criminogenic effects resulting from globalization in a number of areas.

Globalization of business and travel has given international criminals unprecedented freedom of movement, making it easier for them to cross borders and to expand the range and scope of their operations.

As a result, virtually every region or country in the world has seen an increase in international criminal activity - as either a source or a transit zone for illegal contraband or products, human trafficking, a venue for money laundering or illicit financial transactions, exploitation of its citizens or a base of operations for criminal organizations with global networks.11. International Crime Threat Assessment http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/pub45270index.htmlTwo key factors have triggered the rise in international criminal activity in the last twenty years. The first is globalization - the liberalization of financial and commodity markets that has created an extensive amount of new opportunities. The second factor is the fall of communism. When the communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union imploded, they left a power vacuum that was filled by an array of failing states that stretched...