NCJ Number
199057
Journal
Security Journal Volume: 16 Issue: 1 Dated: 2003 Pages: 19-37
Editor(s)
Bonnie S. Fisher,
Martin Gill
Date Published
2003
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This paper focuses on the interface of legal and illegal activities in order to analyze the underlying structures of demand for illegal goods and services that drive transnational crime.
Abstract
The author's goal here is to provide a useful analysis to aid in answering the question of whether cross-border crime is increasing or not. This article begins with a brief overview of how globalization has multiplied and supported cross-border links of criminal enterprises. The article's two central terms are defined: "international crime," defined as being enforceable by international law based on the 1994 draft code, customary practice, and unilateral treaties; and "cross-border" or "transnational crime," defined as acts which violate the laws of more than one county. Focus areas include: interface analysis I, the goals of transnational offenders; interface analysis II, the nature of the legal-illegal interface; growth of cross-border crime; research implications; developing a solid empirical ground; understanding the causes of transnational crime; and policy implications. The author separates, for analytical purposes, "enterprise crime" from "political crime," while recognizing the two are often combined in reality. He also constructs a topology of legal-illegal links and associations in order to better organize the existing knowledge and data on this subject, and addresses the question of whether the problem is growing and, if so, why. In conclusion, research and policy implications are reviewed and the author urgently recommends development of an evaluation instrument to determine the success and failure of those policies. A list of source references is included.