Interpol - Who Controls the World Police?

The international crime-fighting organization Interpol and its agents are the stuff of legend. Nearly 200 countries belong to the 'international super-police' agency - but it's funding does not cover its ambitious projects. That is why it has entered collaborating with corporations, shady groups embroiled and controversial states, something hitherto unthinkable. Is Interpol losing its integrity.

So far, the media has rarely been able to get a look behind the scenes at Interpol. The forerunner of the present organization was founded nearly a century ago to strengthen cooperation between national police authorities. With increasing globalization and the associated rise in international organized crime, the challenges for the agency, which now has 192 member-states, have also grown. When Ronald Noble, an American, became Secretary General of Interpol in 2000, the world's largest police organization underwent a dramatic turnaround. Noble's dream was to create an 'international super-police'. To achieve that goal, Interpol entered into previously unimaginable cooperation agreements with large corporations such as Philip Morris International and Sanofi, as well as organizations suspected of corruption such as FIFA. Interpol has been criticized for disregarding serious conflicts of interest arising from the potential influence of private donors on investigations. At the same time, some controversial countries began to fund the world police. In March 2017, for example, the United Arab Emirates gave Interpol 50 million euros - as much as contributions from all the other member states put together. But surely such a grant from a single country raises questions about the independence of the recipient. What alliances is Interpol prepared to enter into in order to expand? Is it possible to finance policing through private donations without compromising integrity and accountability? Is this the first step toward a new world order in which collaboration between police authorities and large international companies is seen as normal?