These areas are the most marginalized subregions located within economically dynamic regions. They also differ sharply from one another. Nevertheless, these cases are instructive as nonwestern regions, because crucial concepts in international relations rest on the Western experience. Transnational organized crime groups are embedding themselves in neoliberal globalization. These groups act like transnational corporations, which engage in profit maximization, rational decision making, product innovation, risk reduction, research and development, and technological development. Globalizing crime organizations and changing government structures are linked through the rise of what can be called the courtesan state. The courtesan state is a policy orientation characteristic of various forms of state that serve the interests embodied in neoliberal globalization. This structure relates closely to another aspect of globalization: the corruption of civil society. This corruption relates in turn to the inability of the government to carry out some of its crucial functions. Further study of this topic should move away from analytically limiting binary categories such as legal and criminal and to a triad consisting of the globalization of organized crime, the rise of the courtesan state, and the corruption of civil society. 47 reference notes