Despite media hoopla, cross-border crime -- illegal drugs sales, evasion of taxes, intellectual property theft, and money laundering -- is hardly a new phenomenon. For much of history, moreover, the United States was as much perpetrator as victim. Recognizing this awkward truth should help cool down overheated debates about today's transnational problems and how to respond to them.

President Obama signed the executive order on Strengthening Protections Against Trafficking In Persons In Federal Contracts on September 25, 2012.

The White House released this fact sheet on efforts to combat human trafficking on September 25, 2012.

A new multimedia resource from CFR's International Institutions and Global Governance program reveals gaps in multilateral efforts to combat transnational organized crime.

The U.S. State Department released its yearly Trafficking in Persons report on June 19, 2012.

The link between crime and the state is neither as new nor as scary as Moisés Naím depicted it, argues Peter Andreas; after all, criminals have been corrupting governments for centuries.

With drug legalization increasingly debated by world leaders, CFR's Stewart Patrick and Phil Williams of the University of Pittsburgh discuss the explosion of transnational crime in a globalized world.

The International Instrument to Enable States to Identify and Trace, in a Timely and Reliable Manner, Illicit Small Arms and Light Weapons was adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 8, 2005.

December 2008 ECOWAS Abuja Declaration ("Political Declaration on the Prevention Of Drug Abuse, Illicit Drug Trafficking and Organized Crimes in West Africa") was adopted in December 2008.

The Organization of American States (OAS) produced these conclusions and recommendations regarding a "Hemispheric Plan of Action against Transnational Organized Crime" at their meeting on April 19, 2005 in Washington, DC.

Mafia states enjoy the unhealthy advantages of their hybrid status: they're as nimble as gangs and as well protected as governments, and thus more dangerous than either.

The OECD released the Progress Report "Towards Global Tax Co-operation: Progress in Identifying and Eliminating Harmful Tax Practices" in 2000.

The Protocol to the Organization of American States (OAS) Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters was adopted on June 11, 1993.

The OECD Model Agreement on Exchange of Information on Tax Matters was released by the OECD in April 2002.

The ECOWAS Transnational Action Plan on Organized Crime was released on July 2, 2010 at the ECOWAS session in Cape Verde.

Europol, the European Police Office, published the EU Organised Crime Threat Assessment: OCTA 2011 in April, 2011.

The Report of the World Ministerial Conference on Organized Transnational Crime was presented to the UN General Assembly on December 2, 1994.

The Experts Group on Transnational Organized Crime (Lyon Group) released these 40 Recommendations on which were approved at the G8 summit in Lyon in 1996.

The Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime was adopted in Strasbourg on November 8, 1990.

The Organization of American States' Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters was adopted on May 23, 1992 and entered into force on April 14, 1996.