Corruption

Strip the World’s Worst Actors of a Key Financial Tool

The U.S. and its allies need to rip the veil of secrecy from the anonymous shell corporations that help drug dealers, terror groups, and kleptocratic dictators.

As Anti-Corruption Efforts Expand Globally, the Defense Sector Remains an Outlier

A recent anti-corruption summit produced hundreds of commitments, exactly eight of which concerned defense.

As Defense Markets Shift, It’s Time to Stiffen Anti-Corruption Rules for Middlemen

Third-party agents, who are crucial to arms makers’ sales efforts in the global south and east, are also relatively free to misbehave.

Central Americans May Be Ready for Their Own Arab Spring

The spread of gangs, the U.S. narcotics trade, and rampant corruption are major factors contributing to mass migration and alarmingly high levels of violence.

Nigeria Just Arrested Its Former Defense Chief for Looting Anti-Boko Haram Funds

If the allegations are true, it would help explain the country’s gross under-resourcing of government security services.

Nigeria Has a $2B Arms Fraud Problem

While Boko Haram swept across the country, a former national security adviser awarded 'phantom contracts' to buy 12 helicopters, four fighter jets, bombs that were never supplied.

This Could Be the Change Iraq Has Been Waiting For

Public anger over rampant corruption and poor government service has sparked the most sweeping reform plan since Saddam fell.

The Nigerian Military's Inconvenient Truth

By emphasizing his desire for weapons above military reforms, Nigeria's new president squandered a valuable opportunity to raise an important issue in U.S. policy circles.

Corruption at US Border Security Could Undermine Entire System, Report Says

An internal report found the agency’s current investigations process 'chronically slow' and recommended a surge of nearly 350 new investigators.

How Baghdad Might Fall: Plain Old Bribery

A much-underestimated driver in war is cold, hard cash – and ISIS has plenty of it. By Steve LeVine

How Corruption Guts Militaries: The Ukraine Case Study

Ukraine’s ousted strongman, Viktor Yanukovych 'deliberately destroyed the military.' Arming the corrupt networks he left behind would make things worse. By Sarah Chayes

Border Corruption Is Costing the Afghan Government Millions

The U.S. has spent nearly $200 million since 2009 to help Afghanistan fight corruption on its borders. It’s not working. By Charles S. Clark

The Military Must Hunt Corruption, Not Just Terrorists

Too often, strategists don’t see corruption for what it really is: a national security threat. Read the first in a new exclusive series. By Sarah Chayes