The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, helped fuel an increased interest in comparative crime and criminal justice analyses, especially concerning transnational crime. Academic interest in the topic of transnational crime and the comparative method in general has grown substantially; within the past 5 years alone the number of journals devoted to international and comparative criminology and criminal justice has almost doubled. Following the introduction, the author offers a typology that categorizes recent comparative literature in order to clarify the nature and methods of comparative criminology and criminal justice research. The proposal categorizes studies into one of four dimensions, which are based on the approach of the study, the scope of comparisons drawn, the type of data employed, and the study’s research design. The author urges researchers to engage in comparative studies that are analytic, multinational, quantitative, and longitudinal. Next, the benefits of conducting comparative research are explicated, with a specific focus on comparisons among nations. Four broad benefits are outlined and include a greater understanding of transnational crime and how to prevent it, a deeper understanding of how systems of justice operate throughout the world, the opportunity to test the generalizability of theories, the ability to examine variables that are constrained within a single nation. The impediments to comparative research are the focus of the next section, and include above all a lack of adequate funding. Other challenges are also discussed, such as a lack of access to the subject of research and language difficulties. Finally, the author offers comments on the future of comparative criminology and criminal justice. If the comparative and transnational area of study is to become a mainstream staple of criminology and criminal justice, then efforts must be devoted to professionalizing the field and coordinating a strategy to gain more governmental and foundation funding. The author predicts that the increasing globalization of business, economies, politics, and cultures will create an increasing demand for global knowledge and research. References