How Globalization Affects Transnational Crime
The Xin Mei Zhou container ship is seen at the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, May 30, 2012. Container ships are a major conduit for illicit trafficking (David McNew/Courtesy Reuters).
With drug legalization increasingly debated by world leaders, the Internationalist talks to Phil Williams about the explosion of transnational crime in a globalized world.
- “Transnational criminals have been one of the biggest beneficiaries of globalization.” Globalization facilitates international trade but also increases the difficulty of regulating global trade; traffickers and smugglers have exploited this. Williams adds that globalization has increased inequality around the globe, and that “its disruptive effect has actually caused people to have to go into organized crime and operate in illicit markets as coping mechanisms.”
- The global financial system has undergone widespread deregulation since the 1970s. This has allowed illicit actors to launder the proceeds of crime more easily. “We’ve got some reregulation to try to deal with money laundering…but it’s not particularly effective,” says Williams.
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
