Organized Crime and Terrorism. Reasons, Manifestations, Counteractions

Without doubt globalization is impacting on just about every aspect of life in the modern world. One may argue about the positive and negative issues involved in the process but what cannot be overlooked is that it is creating new opportunities to expand criminal activity, particularly in the form of organized crime and terrorism. As such, this phenomenon needs to be carefully studied both for purposes of cognition and the development of effective countermeasures. Quite apart from its economic advantages, the expansion of multinational bodies such as the European Union combined with increasing freedom to move capital, goods, services and people across national boundaries unhindered, has opened up new areas for organized crime, challenging existing penal laws and creating a situation where they require to be constantly adjusted and improved. Insofar as this relates to Poland specifi cally, one has to remember that since its integration into the European Union, Poland has not only been required to adapt its law to that of the EU but also to secure EU borders. Moreover, organized crime in Poland is a recent phenomenon one which did not exist prior to the collapse of communism. Another major challenge and one that is much more visible than organized crime, is the growing threat of terrorism and on a scale previously unimaginable (e.g. 9/11 which led to the “War on terror”). The East/West confl ict is almost certainly a consequence of continuing economic, social and political globalization that is seen by some in eastern countries (countries negatively affected by changes) as a threat that can only be countered using terrorist means.