The Global Underworld

Transnational crime is an increasing national security threat to the United States and to individual citizens around the world. Criminal groups both in the United States and abroad operate crime cartels that span national boundaries, but they do so in ways that affect all Americans wreaking havoc on law enforcement organizations as well as businesses and other entities, such as the stock market. More often than not, transnational crime takes the form of organized crime, and in its many forms it is responsible for over-priced goods, unsafe products, environmental hazards, the corruption of public officials, the exploitation of women and children, tax evasion, theft and piracy, identity theft, fraud, drug trafficking, and black market trading in armaments and weapons of mass destruction, among other scandals and forms of misconduct. Because perpetrators often act in collusion with legitimate organizations and other powerful elites, who either cooperate knowingly or unknowingly or are coerced through violence, dealing with the problem is especially difficult. Here, Liddick describes the many groups responsible for transnational crimes, and the nature and scale of their various enterprises. The result is a powerful testament to the globalization of criminal organizations and their danger to American society.

DONALD R. LIDDICK, JR. is Associate Professor of Administration of Justice at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. He has published three books and several articles that have appeared in various journals.