Transnational crime presents one of the most complex challenges to the international system. Today, transnational
criminal networks have grown at unprecedented levels, costing over $2 trillion, roughly 3.6 percent of global GDP,
resulting in an unparalleled scale of international criminal activity. Despite the critical nature of transnational crime,
there remains a gap in the general understanding of its complexities. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) took on
the challenge of bridging this gap through the creation of the Global Governance Monitor: Transnational Crime. An
innovative multimedia guide to the subject, this interactive shapes a creative new approach to the news and
documentary experience, providing a panoramic overview the world’s efforts to craft collective responses to
international crime. Through top-tier explanatory reporting, the Global Governance Monitor: Transnational Crime
illustrates the adverse effects of past and present transnational criminal activity.
This tool ambitiously pairs world-class scholarship with the power of the Internet. The six chapters comprising the
guide draw on the insight of CFR experts and global specialists on transnational crime. The interactive uses gripping
video clips, in-depth timelines, interactive maps, and compelling imagery. This is coupled with a robust compilation of
background and information which identifies weaknesses in the archaic structure of criminal tracking,
implementation gaps in judicial cooperation, and weak anticorruption efforts. The interactive provides policy
recommendations to streamline international enforcement.
The guide opens with a cinematic overview of the history of transnational crime and the questions facing the
international community in mitigating crime-related conflict and violence around the world. The overview is followed
by a graphic timeline divided into four sections chronicling crime from the opium trade in the eighteenth century to
the current drug cartel wars in Mexico. The third chapter includes an expansive analytical issue brief discussing the
scope of the challenge; the strengths and weaknesses of the global regime to combat transnational crime; U.S. and
international policy issues; and new policy options for addressing the problem. The fourth chapter features a matrix
that catalogs relevant international treaties and organizations, followed by a fifth chapter featuring an interactive map
of contemporary transnational criminal hotspots. Concluding with a resource guide, the Global Governance Monitor:
Transnational Crime provides over 400 years’ worth of history, current international news coverage, and analysis in
one interactive multimedia initiative, giving users the ability to choose the way in which they engage with the content.
What sets this initiative’s content aside from other platforms is its creative approach to combining historical narrative
and current events with expert analysis, providing a groundbreaking addition to the academic, political, and social
conversation on transnational crime. By ushering in the next generation of multimedia storytelling, incorporating
photojournalism, audio, and video, MediaStorm and CFR sought to create an online interactive product unique for its
technical simplicity and accessibility. This guide is continuously updated in-house by CFR experts, while consistently
providing users with an elegant yet practical interface.
The breadth of information and ease of access caters to a diverse audience, ranging from policy makers and
government officials, to students, educators, and interested citizens alike. The impact of the Global Governance
Monitor: Transnational Crime has been extensive, reaching hundreds of thousands of viewers since its launch. It has been
broadly publicized by media outlets such as the Guardian, and widely followed Twitter accounts including the
Director of Google Ideas, Jared Cohen, and the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. It has received recognition from
prominent individuals ranging from the Vice President at the Association of the U.S. Army, to the Korean
Ambassador to Japan, and was acknowledged by Executive Chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt. Furthermore, the
Global Governance Monitor: Transnational Crime was a key feature at the Google Ideas’ Illicit Networks: Forces in
Opposition Summit and was presented at the 2012 International Studies Association Annual Convention.
Global Governance Monitor: Transnational Crime is unlike traditional reporting on international affairs, in that it is a
piece of “living” content, evolving in tandem with its subject through fortnightly updates and reviews. Integrating
cutting-edge videos and compelling imagery with a newfound scope of information, this tool combines a visually and
intellectually stimulating platform covering pressing issues ranging from the modern era of narcotrafficking in Latin
America, to the rise in technology and global crime networks in the Middle East, into one captivating interactive piece.
For all of the reasons above, we at the Council on Foreign Relations believe the Global Governance Monitor:
Transnational Crime represents a distinguished example of continuous, interpretive news coverage, worthy of an
EMMY Award.
Global Governance Monitor: Transnational Crime: http://www.cfr.org/global-governance/global-governancemonitor/p18985?co=C028801#/Crime/Overview%20Video/
VIDEO BLURB:
The Global Governance Monitor: Transnational Crime opens with a cinematic overview of the history of transnational
crime and the challenges facing the international community in mitigating crime-related conflict and violence around
the world. With just under ten minutes to capture the interest of the viewer, this video aims to educate, entertain, and
enrich. Through the use of striking graphics, audio and video footage of influential global leaders, and by highlighting
current global crime news stories, this video provides an in-depth and comprehensible overview of transnational
crime aimed at a diverse audience, ranging from policy makers and government officials, to students, educators, and
interested citizens alike.