Stability, security and sustainable development

Illicit financial flows, serious organised crime, corruption, tax evasion and other economic crimes are more salient today than ever. There is a clear link effect of these crimes on stability, security and sustainable development globally. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many jurisdictions have stepped up their game against economic crime. The approach, extent, focus, pace and funding of the efforts to tackle economic crime, however, merit discussion. This chapter discusses the economic crime-related security, stability and sustainable development issues, recommending areas of further research which would be of particular interest to both practitioners as well as the academic community. The proposed areas for additional research are focused on some of the largest security challenges we are faced with today. These include the economic crime-related repercussions of health crises, most recently Covid-19, conflicts and wars, environmental (in)security and ensuing irregular migration flows. The challenges of combatting economic crime are plentiful, particularly in fragile and development contexts; including measuring economic crime, tailoring approaches to different contexts and prioritising resources. There is also a need for greater collaboration across the private, public and third sectors. The chapter highlights a proposed focus on prevention, from focusing on alternatives to crime, to understanding and working with social norms that influence the acceptance of and engagement in economic crime and enhancing our understand of what works in relation to values-based approaches to combatting economic crime. Finally, more research would be useful to outline the way politics continues to influence economic crime trends and controls. Many interventions seek to harness political will to make positive changes and act at the right moment; and could benefit from others’ experience. Understanding political influences could be also useful at improving controls for integrity and to better guide interventions in the context of particularly politically sensitive topics such as irregular migration and corruption.