ABSTRACT
Transnational organized crime is a complex security threat that demands a multi-layered approach and response. In this chapter, you will come to terms with transnational organized crime as an issue of security studies. The opening section will explore transnational crime groups, focusing on their definition, their origins and their organizational composition. The next section explores the wide breadth of transnational criminal activities that form the illicit political economy, economic flows that mimic legal ones but that fall under the control and regulation of crime groups rather than states and firms. The third section synthesizes these descriptions to explore how transnational organized crime threatens the security of individual human beings, nation-states and even the international system. The final section briefly introduces you to the depth and breadth of the response to transnational organized crime.
