Centralization

This entry seeks to examine the concept of centralization as it applies to transnational crime. As a broad category, centralization encompasses a wide range of issues that relate both to the nature of crime itself and to the various state and nonstate reactions to crime. Centralization occurs in two main guises. First, criminal organizations develop global networks that allow them to move illegal goods across borders. This increases the profitability of the various enterprises and extends their influence beyond the traditional borders of the nation-state. As a result, the local street gang is no longer purely local but is tied into an international set of illegal trade initiatives. Second, state and nonstate actors have had to respond to these new criminal enterprises across local national ...