Within the last decade, interest in the perceived threat of transnational organized crime (TOC) in Western countries has grown among politicians, policymakers, and social scientists. This book presents several papers initially prepared for a series of seminars on policy responses to transnational organized crime which was funded by the United Kingdom Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), held from 1999 to 2001. The papers addressed one of six seminar objectives: to cultivate a dialog among academics and policymakers interested in TOC and disseminate findings to a broader audience of interested parties. Cultivating dialog would produce knowledge relevant to governing security threats. The book is divided into four parts: (1) examining the origins of TOC; (2) examining the interrelationship between the definitions of organized crime and the development of research instruments for its measurement and interpretation; (3) exploring the utilization of different methodological approaches through case studies of organized criminal activity in Europe; and (4) a reexamination of current and prospective policy responses to TOC. The book concludes with observations on the debates generated by the seminar series and contributions. Index