The Fifth Column: Understanding the Relationship between Corruption and Conflict
Publisher: Transparancy International
Author(s): Karolina MacLachlan, Dave Allen, Tobias Bock, Katherine Dixon, Rebecca Graves, Hilary Hurd, and Leah Wawro
Date: 2017
Topics: Conflict Prevention, Governance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Programming
At the end of the last century, the Western foreign policy consensus was that increases in global wealth, a more interconnected world, and ever greater levels of citizen participation in democratic economies would drive international politics towards a more just, open, and prosperous global order. But the assumed progress towards democratic peace has been stymied by an unexpected foe: systemic corruption. Globalisation and the development of transnational financial services have enabled wellorganised, corrupt governments to hide funds gained through corruption, and to extract resources from their populations on a grand scale. Populations that pushed for democracy in post-colonial states have been disenfranchised through the establishment of kleptocratic regimes that operate the state apparatus entirely in that regime’s interest. From China and Pakistan to Egypt and Myanmar, small groups of elites have diverted state resources and controlled the institutions of the state for their personal enrichment and to retain power over their populations. This not only leads to the suffering of billions of people worldwide, but also - as these corrupt elites at the top of state institutions influence global politics and security - threatens the foundations of the rules-based global order.