The Threat of Harm by Transnational Organized Criminals

As the topic of globalization came to the forefront of public discourse in the United States (US) during the 1990s, it was not long before some (Nicaso and Lamothe 1995; Robinson 2000) began to warn of an emerging ‘global mafia.’ According to these warnings, some of the traditional monolithic organized crime groups from Italy, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union were quickly adapting to this new globalized world – a world characterized by improved global communication and transportation systems and greater integration of national economies. To fully exploit the new opportunities afforded by globalization, criminal organizations were said to be merging and cooperating with each other on a scale never seen before.