Transnational criminal organizations. Social Sciences Essay

Transnational Criminal Organizations
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Transnational Criminal Organizations
Organized crime in the United States (U.S.) relates to more than a singular phenomenon although the name itself arose in 1919, somewhere in Chicago (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna International Ctr, & Austria, 2010). During this period, gangs dominated this region and even today, the term retains these undertones. Organized crime includes conventional crimes such as selling stolen property, drug trafficking, loan-sharking, prostitution, illegal gambling, and extortion (von Lampe & Antonopoulos, 2018). The most recent and popular cases comprise trafficked prostitutes from the Soviet Union or Southeast Asia, credit and banking frauds, smuggling of guns, and child trafficking through Mexico and Canada. With the growth in communication, technology, and the global economy, the list of crimes is expanding gradually. Transnational organized crime (TOC) encapsulates almost every other profit-motivated criminal action that has profound national and international implications although authorities can assert measures to mitigate their escalation.
The Nature of the Threat
TOC has evolved with time aligning the ever-dynamic environment. There have been fluctuations apparent in the rising and lowering in the prevalence of these crimes in different regions across the nation. For instance, there has been a rapid expansion of human trafficking and firearms flow in conflict-inflicted areas. Facilitating environments such as the end of the Cold War, reduction in civil wars and relentless advancement in globalization have impacted the significance of organized crimes in different measures. In essence, these trends are very much dynamic to the extent that authorities have little foresight to what may happen next. Nevertheless, it is important to ascertain the risk factors that affect this phenomenon and how it evolves.
Globalization has been an apparent factor in this case. Globalization is the “interconnectedness of the nations of the world following the global liberalization of trade at the end of the Cold War” (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna International Ctr, & Austria, 2010, p. 29). Consequently, the flow of goods, capital, and services have advanced exponentially. Global tourism has also improved enormously compounded by cheaper airfares and fewer restrictions on visa regimes. Culturally, the internet and telecommunications have had magnified globalization. In retrospect, globalization has far outpaced the mechanisms for global governance. It is a result that allows for a major gap in regulation vacuum thereby increasing chances for thriving organized crimes. Criminals and contraband can move easily as it becomes more difficult to distinguish between the legit and illegal stuff. National governments are unable to deal with the intensity of these movements. The rate at which these people and goods move from one place to another outpaces efforts from an individual nation.
Besides globalization, grey and black markets are another dimension upon which TOC continues to be a danger to society. Free-market democracies eliminated highly managed societies. The dominant social and economic behavior that provided a more solid co-existence in society diminished. Moreover, communism mitigated the problem in that crimes were marred by major complexities and more so, conducted by those within the community ranks. However, with the change in dynamics, criminals sought easier avenues to conduct their trade. For instance, radar surveillance eliminated the possibilities of any type of trafficking by air. Criminals resulted in extreme violence around their communities to cater for lost income. This assertion justifies an increased level of violence in the U.S. regional boundaries and states.
Concern over TOC gains attention because of the extreme level of threat to violence that is involved. In any of these activities, violence is perceived as the ultimate solution to any conflict that emerges. Contract compliance is one of the major reasons parties resort to violence. Many people are held at gunpoint to instill fear in them. On the other hand, drug trafficking has profound health problems on its users and at times, leads to addiction. The impact has far-reaching consequences beyond the user to families, communities, and societies at large. Further, these crimes fac...