Corruption from Ramallah to Ottawa
Posted by Suzanne Nossel
Just a day after I touched on the role that Fatah's reputation for corruption and ethical violations in possibly tipping the scales toward Hamas tomorrow when Palestinians head to the polls, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin gets whacked at ballot box defeat by conservative Stephen Harper, largely as a result of his party's reputation for fraud and skimming. In Bolivia, newly elected leftist President Evo Morales won on a platform of eradicating corruption. All this comes just as Jack Abramoff's plea agreement riles Washington.
It may seem obvious, but corruption plays a huge role in politics the world over. Harper's election may strengthen Canadian ties with the US but in general corruption serves to to set back socio-economic development, to cloud the legitimacy of democratic leaders, to cramp economic growth, and to promote instability and lack of confidence in public institutions. The World Bank has identified corruption as the number one obstacle to economic and social development.
The Administration deserves some credit for making anti-corruption a centerpiece of its Millennium Challenge Corporation, but so far only 7 countries have struck deals with that program (partly due to lack of sufficient funding). Finding practical ways to assist countries to crack down on corruption needs to be elevated to a centerpiece of US foreign policy and aid. Doing that credibly will, of course, require keeping our own house in order.
Your statement: "The Administration deserves some credit for making anti-corruption a centerpiece of its Millennium Challenge Corporation."
Just what Administration are you referring to? It can't be the USA Republican Administration with it's track record of corruption.
Posted by: John | January 25, 2006 at 08:38 AM
John, I think the key word there is "funding".
So anti-corruption becomes "Do as we pay you to, not as we do,".
Posted by: J Thomas | January 25, 2006 at 11:42 AM
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