Global Crime Networks Cooperate Better Than Police

Despite being one of the world's biggest international organizations, Interpol has struggled to rein in global crime syndicates. While police forces and intelligence organizations –both locally and internationally – hesitate to share information, fearing another's potential for corruption, criminals have capitalized on tech-savvy forms of global communication to build links across borders and fields of expertise. Money launderers, drug traffickers, cyber criminals, and terrorists now thrive due to global networks that easily defy international efforts to stop them. As US Deputy Attorney General and delegate to this year's Interpol conference, David Ogden, bemoans, “criminals are ahead of governments in exploiting the most advanced tools of globalization,” to the tune of 15 percent of the world's GDP according to some estimates. Though globalization may create opportunities for criminals, a targeted global response can likewise break up these illicit crime rings that span continents. However, any intergovernmental response, plagued by the slow, procedural nature of officialdom, will struggle to keep pace with tech-savvy and quick-footed criminals who share a mutual interest in avoiding policemen of any and every nationality. – YaleGlobal