Global and regional approaches to fighting transnational crime

Abstract

The rapid mobility of people, money, information, ideas, and commodities generally, has provided new opportunities for crime, and new challenges for law enforcement agencies. This paper reviews some of the major themes of crime and crime control in today's small world. Major issues canvassed include drug traffic, illegal immigration, illicit traffic in small arms, and cyber crime. Following an initial overview of transnational crime, the paper describes the regional environment in the Asia-Pacific from the point of view of stability, governance and law and order. It describes the type of transnational crime Australia is experiencing, and seeks to explain how these types of crime flourish within or are facilitated through countries with poor standards of governance or poorly resourced law enforcement regimes. The paper then proceeds to discuss a number of issues relating to peace keeping from the AFP's perspective. The paper concludes by discussing some of the broader implications for the AFP of working in an external environment such as the Asia-Pacific, including organisational, cultural and policy issues.