We Need Global Police Action for Globalized Crime

There are new types of crime, and the very nature of criminal activity is changing right before our eyes. It is clear that old ways of monitoring criminals, etc are simply not going to cut it in this new world of globalized crime. In Foreign Policy, Moisés Naím points to five "wars on crime" that cross international borders, and will render traditional crime fighting styles virtually worthless: drugs, illegal arms trade, intellectual property, human trafficking, and money. These decentralized, stateless networks filled with individuals motivated by either religious extremism or money are pitted against governments who are bound by traditional notions of sovereignty, which severely limits their ability to fight these well-financed, worldwide networks. The author writes, "In one form or another, governments have been fighting these five wars for centuries. And losing them." We need more police forces like Interpol, and we need to put more resources into improving Interpol itself. This applies equally to terror, as it does to the five wars motivated by greed mentioned above. International connections have made distance a non-factor in criminals working together. We need teams of good guys to rival these forces, or we risk losing the "war" for good.