Decades of study have produced considerable understanding of street crimes and delinquency, but it is unclear whether this knowledge has direct application to transnational and international crimes. Vincenzo Ruggiero (Chapter 4) argues that many standard criminological theories including positivism, functionalism, labeling theory, and conflict theory could be adapted to explain the politically motivated violence of international crimes. On the other hand, these theories, mostly developed through studies of deprived offenders, seem less able to explain transnational organized crimes, particularly their rapid growth. It is more likely that the explanations will be found in the increase of globalization with the attendant huge expansion of world trade and migration and the explosions of new technologies and electronic communications. These changes have opened up new opportunities, not just for legal enterprises, but also for lucrative criminal enterprises to prosper and grow.

Marcus Felson’s routine activity theory (Chapter 2), which deals with the relationship between social change and the waxing and waning of crime opportunities, is one criminological theory that can be invoked to explain the effect of these changes. Indeed, as explained by Louise Shelley, in the opening chapter, terrorists and transnational offenders, just like other people, take advantage of increased travel, trade, rapid money movements, telecommunications, and computer links. Globalization undoubtedly helps explain the increasing l ow of people from one country to another. Many people flee harsh living conditions in their home countries, or they seek refuge from war crimes and other human rights violations.