convergence

Luna
to combat the assets of the criminal and terrorist organizations. From G-8 summits in L’Aquila
(Italy) in 2009, Huntsville, Ontario (Canada) 2010, Deauville (France) 2011, and Camp David,
Maryland (United States) 2012, G-8 leaders have continued to reaffirm their commitment to
combating transnational organized crime and the UNTOC.
OAS Summit of the Americas. At the Fifth and Sixth Summits of the Americas, held in
Port-of-Spain, capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, in 2009, and in Cartagena,
Colombia, in 2012, President Barack Obama and other hemispheric leaders agreed to fight
all forms of transnational organized crime, drug and arms trafficking, trafficking in persons
and migrant smuggling, money laundering, corruption, terrorism, kidnapping, gang violence,
and technology related crimes including cyber crime. The United States is also working with
OAS member states to implement a Hemispheric Plan of Action to Combat Transnational
Organized Crime, which was approved by the Permanent Council of the OAS in 2006 and
includes a series of actions to enhance coordination, increase the capacity of law enforcement
to implement mechanisms to combat organized crime, and promote information sharing,
among others. In Cartagena, the heads of state and government acknowledged how transnational
criminal organizations were increasingly expanding beyond drug trafficking to other
criminal activities, with increased levels of violence. They expressed concern that national
responses were not sufficient to combat cross-border threats and agreed to join forces and
leverage capabilities against transnational organized crime.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The North Atlantic Council has long
expressed its willingness to cooperate on combating “global threats, such as terrorism, the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, their means of delivery and cyber attacks” and to
work together on “other challenges such as energy security, climate change, as well as instability
emanating from fragile and failed states,” which have a negative impact not only on NATO
member states but the international community as a whole.
APEC/ASEAN. The United States is working with other APEC and Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) economies to combat corruption and illicit trade, dismantle
transnational illicit networks, and protect economies from abuse of the U.S. financial
system by leveraging financial intelligence and law enforcement cooperation related to corrupt
payments and illicit financial flows. Economies across the Asia-Pacific region continue to focus
on ways to combat terrorism, prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and
strengthen international capacities to combat piracy and armed robbery at sea. The United
States is working with other economies in the region to strengthen interregional capabilities
and to develop transpacific cooperation to combat transnational terrorism, crime, illicit finance,
and corruption and to dismantle threat networks including through the Trans-Pacific Network.
The United States and Cambodia will cohost an APEC-ASEAN Pathfinder Project
in 2013 to combat corruption and illicit trade.
Other International Organizations. The United States continues to advance leadership
internationally and to strengthen global partnerships to combat transnational threats globally
including at the United Nations, World Bank, Financial Action Task Force, Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Interpol, Contact Group on Piracy
off the Coast of Somalia, and numerous regional intergovernmental fora around the world.
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