Last Updated on August 12, 2025 by Karl Thompson
Globalization has led to an increase in global crime, which crosses international borders. Controlling global crime is challenging due to the practical difficulties of policing vast geographical areas and the variations in legal systems across different countries.
Examples of Global Crimes
Globalization has contributed to the rise in global crime in several ways:
- Increased Trafficking of Goods Across International Waters: Illegal drugs are the most prominent example, but counterfeit clothing and electronics, along with the smuggling of alcohol and cigarettes to evade taxes, are also prevalent.
- Increased Human Trafficking: This includes women and girls being forced into the sex industry, as well as trafficking for forced marriages, exploitative labor, and the role of organized crime in facilitating migration for individuals fleeing poor conditions in their home countries.
- Various Financial Crimes: Wealthy individuals and corporations use tax havens to evade taxes.
- Cybercrimes: These are numerous and range from online fraud and scams to cyber warfare between governments.
- Environmental Crimes: Illegal waste dumping in one country can affect neighboring regions, especially if toxic fumes become airborne.
This list is not exhaustive but provides a reminder of the scale of global crime.
Why Is Global Crime Difficult to Control?
Global crime is difficult to control for at least five key reasons:
- Differing Norms and Values Among Countries
- Practical Barriers to Cooperation
- Limitations of the International Court of Justice
- Benefits for Criminal Elites in Some Countries
- Challenges in Policing Cybercrime
- Vast Real and Virtual Space
Differing Norms and Values Among Countries
Countries have varying norms, values, and legal systems, meaning what is criminal in one nation may not be criminal in another. For example, dumping electronic waste is not illegal in Ghana, even though toxins from that waste pollute water and air. International law is not yet comprehensive enough to hold countries accountable for environmental crimes, nor are individual nation-states.
Practical Barriers to Cooperation
Even if agreements are reached between countries, it takes considerable resources to build cases against criminal organizations operating across borders, posing significant practical challenges.
Limitations of the International Court of Justice
While the International Court of Justice in The Hague prosecutes individuals accused of the most serious crimes (e.g., genocide), it does not handle everyday crimes such as trafficking and cybercrime. There is no international court for these crimes, so prosecution is left to individual countries, whose governments may not be willing to pursue these cases.
Benefits for Criminal Elites in Some Countries
Certain criminal networks may be seen as beneficial by some within the countries that supply illegal goods. For instance, criminal organizations involved in heroin distribution in Europe may be viewed as a source of economic gain in Afghanistan and Bulgaria. Despite the harm caused by drug addiction in the West, the British government has limited power to stop drug supplies from Afghanistan and can only control its own borders.
Challenges in Policing Cybercrime
Cybercrime is especially difficult to police, as the perpetrators of online fraud and similar crimes often remain hidden, using VPNs and other techniques to conceal their identity and location.
Vast Real and Virtual Space
Finally, both real and virtual spaces are expansive, making comprehensive surveillance of borders or cyberspace impossible. This creates many “dark spaces” in which crime can flourish in the globalized real and virtual worlds.
Relevance to A-level sociology
This material is mainly relevant to the Crime and Deviance module, which is usually studied as part of second year A-level sociology.