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Corruption in a Globalized World

C is as old as it is widespread. If there were any doubt, it was dispelled in 1997 when a team of Dutch archaeologists at an excavation site in Rakka, Syria discovered cuneiform inscriptions, an archive from the thirteenth century B.C., that included data about an Assyrian princess accepting bribes. Although corruption is a long-standing phenomenon, modern governments and international institutions have been slow to take up the challenge of tackling the problem. The advent of democracy in the former communist countries, for example, was not accompanied by an adequate commitment to transparency in government. In emerging democracies, where people have grown up with corruption, what they observe as change under the new system is that the gallery of rogues casts a wider net and crime is rising in both its domestic and cross-border varieties. Yet the news is not all bleak. Concern for improved standards of governance, transparency, and accountability is now spreading across the globe, in particular among aid agencies and international financial institutions. However, the scale of the impact of corruption is not yet fully acknowledged. Corruption not only distorts fair competition, it makes it impossible for millions of people, especially in developing countries, to earn an honest living. At its worst, corrupt political elites allocate scarce resources to huge arms deals, combining kickbacks for their cronies with an escalation of conflict, thus worsening the plight of populations in some of the world’s poorest regions.