Publication

This working paper addresses the issue of transnational crime in the Asia-Pacific region by focusing on human and drug smuggling. The author assesses that these two have become existential threats affecting many people through the region. The author states that political democratization and trade liberalization provide greater challanges such as transnational crime, with which states must grapple. The paper concludes that the efforts in strenghtening cooperation to combat transnational crime can only be realized when poverty and state weakness reach a manageable level within states.