In the global fight against corruption, our intuition is often right. We expect countries with faltering governments, fragile institutions, and low per capita incomes to struggle to keep money from going where it shouldn’t—and generally speaking, they do. Likewise, many examples of wealthy countries with strong rule of law and government integrity institutions lead us… Read More
Staring at the dilapidated one-room building, Philip Duah knew that Project 12 was a sham. “The municipal assembly said the project – a new high school building – was at 90% status and ongoing,” said Duah, the Director of ABAK Foundation, a small non-profit that runs a primary school for low-income children and serves as… Read More
This is the first blog in a series on methods for fighting corruption at the local, national, and international level. The research is a product of the Anti-Corruption & Governance Center at CIPE and includes insights from CIPE programming around the world. A fundamental principle of anti-corruption is transparency—providing a window into the day-to-day decisions… Read More
As international humanitarian and military aid floods into Ukraine to support the country’s resistance against Russia’s invasion, it is important to ensure this aid is used with integrity and reaches its intended targets. On this front, the international community’s experience in Afghanistan since 2001 offers a cautionary tale to the world today on the potential… Read More
Fighting Pro-Russia Disinformation in the Western Balkans Requires Beneficial Ownership Transparency
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has highlighted the threat of pro-Russian disinformation in media markets throughout Europe and Eurasia. Some Western Balkan countries like Montenegro have responded to this danger by banning Russian media outlets outright. But these kinds of policies will not be effective without greater media ownership transparency. Media ownership transparency would expose the… Read More
Over the past few months, the world has witnessed the harrowing consequences of aggressive, corruption-fueled authoritarianism. Barely three months after the United States hosted the world’s first Summit for Democracy —and named fighting corruption a central pillar of U.S. strategy—the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has been a wake-up call for democracies and businesses committed… Read More