NCJ Number
192023
Journal
Jane's Intelligence Review Volume: 13 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2001 Pages: 22-24
Date Published
November 2001
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Transnational crime is becoming an increasing threat to national and regional security, partly due to increasing links between criminal and terrorist groups; this introductory article explores the characteristics of this convergence and explains the approach that "Intelligence Review" will take in covering transnational crime issues and their connection to regional stability and security.
Abstract
Four identifiable factors have had a considerable impact on the development and evolution of organized crime, terrorism, and the drug trade as independent entities: border porosity, population transfers, financial and commercial developments, and communications technology. Although each of these four factors has independently benefited the emergence and development of organized crime and terrorism, combined they have altered the understanding of "crime." Exacerbated by widespread crises in political systems, deteriorating socioeconomic conditions in many parts of the world, and civil and regional conflicts, this "new" transnational crime displays specific characteristics. Unlike the hierarchically structured criminal and terrorist groups of the past, transnational criminal groups increasingly appear nonhierarchical in their organization. Furthermore, they are commonly decentralized and fluid, thus suggesting that the leadership positions are easily replaceable. It is becoming evident that organized crime, terrorism, and, in some cases, the drug trade are "bleeding" into one another. Trends of this nature appear most often in the states of the former Soviet Union. Also, it appears that many factions in Northern Ireland are less interested in concluding a peace agreement than they are in profiting from their evolving interest in criminal activities. It is now common to find criminal groups having an interest in altering the political environment of targeted states; and it is increasingly common to encounter terrorist groups that are interested primarily in creating an environment conducive to the conduct of criminal activities. It is necessary to assess organized crime, terrorist groups, and the drug trade as parts of a whole. In investigating the development of transnational crime in various regions of the world, it can be assumed that new developments, if successful, will be imitated by others.