North America: A Perspective on the Globalisation of Organised Crime

There are three distinct aspects to the topic of the globalisation of organised crime. First, it allows for or creates a shared world view as to the threats and risks that countries (developed and less developed) face. Secondly, globalisation encourages and facilitates a shared response to these risks. And finally, to the extent that the risks are real/actual, the risks themselves are shared. In specific reference to organised crime, globalisation factors therefore present a socially constructed framework for understanding and defining some activities as both criminal and threatening. These globally shared interpretations lead into the second aspect. Given the agreed nature of transnational organised crime, mechanisms are put in place to press for a uniform response to the threats. The nature of business and finance and the movement of people in a global economy also mean that crime and criminal commodities and criminals move across jurisdictions, making the globe the market — source and demand — for organised crime commodities.