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Begin New Search Topic Corruption Publication Year within 1 Year

11. Operation Car Wash beyond Borders: The Making of a Transnational Policing Field

Author:
Priscila Villela
Publication Date:
05-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Contexto Internacional
Institution:
Institute of International Relations, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro
Abstract:
Investigations by the press have revealed that Operation Car Wash, an anti-corruption task force, received support from the FBI, the American federal agency of criminal investigation. This paper analyses the transnational connections between Brazilian and American law enforcement officers, which led to the formulation and conduction of Operation Car Wash, reconstituting its transnational dimensions, which have yet to receive much attention in the specialised literature. To accomplish this, we have mobilised the field thinking tool developed by Pierre Bourdieu and his interpreters in International Relations, enabling us to reflect on the interactions between police within a specialised social space promoter of socialisation, competition, and cooperation. Beginning with documental research, we have identified the national and international actors involved in the operation, the power relationships between them, their patterns and spaces of interaction, and potential political impacts.
Topic:
International Relations, Corruption, Transnational Policing, FBI, and Operation Car Wash
Political Geography:
South America, United States of America, and North America

12. Unequal Burdens: Corruption’s Impacts on People with Intersectional Identities in Lebanon

Author:
Elizabeth Reiter Dettmer and Jay Feghali
Publication Date:
03-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)
Abstract:
Lebanon, once celebrated for its cultural vibrancy and economic prosperity, now grapples with embedded corruption and dire prospects for reform. Lebanon’s multiple layers of social, confessional, ideological, economic, and cultural identities are governed by varied laws or rules. This creates space for corruption to combine with discriminatory practices. This assessment, Unequal Burdens: Corruption's Impacts on People with Intersectional Identities in Lebanon, focuses on corruption and its effects to measure how perceptions and experiences differ among marginalized groups and to identify any unique effects that people with intersectional identities encounter, with a focus on perspectives from outside Beirut, including Tripoli, Akkar, Baalbek, Bekaa, and surrounding areas. In 2020, IFES conducted an intersectionality assessment, Identity, and Politics in Lebanon, which found that marginalized groups in Lebanon experience multiple levels of exclusion based on social identities, including gender, disability, age, religion, sexual orientation, and refugee status. Individuals with intersectional identities are even more significantly impacted by the complexity and inherent inequality of Lebanon’s political and social systems. Lebanon has 18 officially recognized religious sects that are governed by 15 personal status laws enforced by religious courts. Social identity and the role of religion in politics both contribute to conflict and lack of consensus. These are compounded by socio-economic factors, including an imbalance in access to services – especially outside the capital, low exposure to economic and educational opportunities, limited inclusion in public service, and youth unemployment. Legal obstacles created by personal status laws and the discriminatory application of other laws seriously hinder the ability of marginalized groups to act as full and equal citizens. In early 2020, the Lebanese government introduced a new anti-corruption law and began work on a new National Anti-Corruption Strategy. Despite the new laws, Transparency International’s 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index placed Lebanon 150th of 180 countries, a decline from its rank of 128th in 2012. IFES’ assessment found that corruption is disproportionately impacting people from marginalized groups. Research identified the following key findings: Corruption on the Community Level; Corruption on the Individual Level; Impact of Corruption and Discrimination on Marginalized Groups; Impacts of Corruption on Civic Participation; Corruption as a Facilitating Factor for Participation in Public Life; Corruption as a Hindering Factor for Participation in Public Life.
Topic:
Corruption, Politics, Reform, and Intersectionality
Political Geography:
Middle East and Lebanon

13. Trust and Remuneration for Elected Representatives

Author:
Cassandra Emmons, Jordan Shipley, and Silja Paasilinna
Publication Date:
08-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES)
Abstract:
The rise of the Aragalaya (“The Struggle” in Sinhala) protest movement in Sri Lanka, triggered by the government’s defaulting on its debts in April 2022, highlighted the public’s belief that some of its elected officials are untrustworthy and corrupt. Demand for reforms is high; a supermajority of survey respondents in Sri Lanka in 2023 agreed that enforcing anti-corruption mechanisms equally across political parties (76 percent) and having an impartial judiciary (79 percent) and strong institutions with politically neutral or independent structures (72 percent) would increase their confidence in elected officials. Similar dissatisfaction with elected representatives and demand for reform and accountability can be observed in many countries that have been reeling from overall dissatisfaction with and, in some places, abandonment of, democracy. In hopes of building more resilient democracies that are bolstered by democratic trust, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) undertook this research project. It compares the formal and informal remuneration that elected officials receive in Ecuador, Nepal, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka. This comparative research identifies 16 categories of benefits given to and restrictions placed on elected officials. These serve as a menu of options for others. The research also uncovers two ongoing challenges in rebuilding trust in elected officials via remuneration reform: constituents’ perceptions that officials receive more financial compensation than they actually do, and officials’ receipt of informal benefits. This research leads us to make five recommendations to countries considering remuneration reform or reflecting on their current practices: Ensure reasonable remuneration that is responsive to economic and other pressures. Keep the public informed about remuneration practices and, importantly, any changes to them. Require asset and income disclosure to increase transparency around officials’ earnings. Limit benefits extended to officials’ family members and prohibit nepotism. Limit unnecessary international travel and manage perceptions of abuse. Countries that strive to incorporate these reforms into their legal frameworks or common practices may help build a virtuous cycle of remuneration for and earned trust in elected officials. Improved trust may ultimately contribute to stronger, more resilient democracies.
Topic:
Corruption, Reform, Elections, Accountability, and Remuneration
Political Geography:
South Asia, Sri Lanka, and Global Focus

14. False Dawn: Lebanon’s Economic Crisis Amidst Improved Saudi-Iranian Relations

Author:
David Wood
Publication Date:
03-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
On 17 October 2019, furious protests erupted across Lebanon as citizens came to a shocking realization: the country’s leaders had destroyed the economy. Decades of corruption and mismanagement had emptied the state’s coffers, trig- gering a domestic banking collapse and frittering away many Lebanese residents’ life savings. Now, almost five years later, the situation has only grown worse. The Lebanese lira (LBP) has been devalued to the point of irrelevance, crashing from 1,507.5 LBP for 1 USD to over 140,000 LBP in March 2023. House- holds give up essentials like health insurance to pay for diesel power generators and solar panels, as public electricity provisions—along with many other key state services—barely function.1 Meanwhile, the country’s leaders stubbornly resist implementing much-needed economic reforms, blaming the economic crisis on a wide range of factors, from Syrian refugees to general instability in the Middle East. A regularly proffered excuse emphasizes the role of competition between Iran and Saudi Arabia, whose rivalry has periodically played out on Lebanese soil. This theory argues that Lebanon is a “penetrated society,” inextricably tied to and paralyzed by geopolitical competition, including the Saudi–Iranian con- frontation.2 Thus, Lebanese leaders cannot resolve their disputes until these two regional heavyweights, amongst other foreign powers, reconcile their conflicting interests in Lebanon. Regional competition overlays a domestic political structure already prone to deadlock, which rigidly apportions power between Lebanon’s frequently feuding sectarian communities. Accordingly, various Lebanese politicians hoped that improved Iranian-Saudi relations—facilitated in March 2023 by Chinese mediation—would lead to a breakthrough in their ability to tackle Lebanon’s economic meltdown. Yet, this optimistic reading overestimates the extent of Tehran and Riyadh’s cautious détente, which is unlikely to translate into constructive engagement in Lebanon any time soon. It also downplays the true obstacle to Lebanon’s economic reform process: corruption in the country’s own political and financial elite.
Topic:
Corruption, Diplomacy, Economic Crisis, and Regional Politics
Political Geography:
Iran, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon

15. Good Governance and Rule of Law Effect on GDP Growth: Lessons for Emerging Economies

Author:
Esat A. Durguti, Avni Alidemaj, and Anatolijs Krivins
Publication Date:
04-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:
Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:
The overall aim of this article is to explore the effect of governance parameters on gross domestic product (GDP) in the 15 countries of the European Union (EU15) as well as the 6 countries of Southeast Europe (SEE6). The research employed the dynamic methodology generalized methods of moments (GMM) to explore the data gathered from the World Bank and the Global Economy database stretching 2000 - 2022, correspondingly 2008 - 2022. Our analyzed result for EU15 confirms that regulatory quality (RQ), government effectiveness (GE), and rule of law (RL) positively influence GDP; instead, control of corruption (CC) negatively influences GDP. The results obtained for SEE6 reveal that GE and CC positively influence GDP, but instead, the RL negatively influences GDP. Additionally, RQ in the SEE6 instance has shown an insignificant influence on GDP. Unfortunately, the study could not cover every country in both panel groups because of data limitations. Regarding the study’s conclusions, increased dedication to applying and undertaking reform measures for the key governance indicators for SEE6 countries would be helpful. These insights may raise the need to create specific mechanisms for the RL and CC. Compared to other research, the novelty and originality of the present research lies in the fact that it used panel data via the dynamic GMM approach to explore the role of improving government quality metrics in GDP.
Topic:
Corruption, Governance, GDP, Economic Growth, and Emerging Economies
Political Geography:
Global Focus

16. Dissecting the Political Landscape of War-Torn Ukraine: Between Internal Challenges and External Threats

Author:
Aram Terzyan
Publication Date:
06-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Liberty and International Affairs
Institution:
Institute for Research and European Studies (IRES)
Abstract:
This paper explores the political landscape of war-torn Ukraine, focusing on the country’s core domestic problems. The war in Ukraine has led to a significant deterioration of Ukraine’s political landscape. While victory on the battlefield is Ukraine’s utmost priority, escalating internal problems pose additional challenges. With Ukraine having obtained EU candidate status, these problems have moved to a new level on the EU’s membership agenda. The most urgent of these is endemic corruption, which has gained fresh momentum during the war and has put foreign aid at risk. As the costs of the war grow, international pressure on the Ukrainian authorities to show better results increases. Accountability and transparency should become the guiding principles of the reconstruction and recovery processes to maintain Western support and ensure effective postwar reconstruction.
Topic:
Corruption, Reconstruction, Minorities, European Union, Russia-Ukraine War, and De-Oligarchization
Political Geography:
Europe and Ukraine

17. Responsible Exit Principles for Oil and Gas Companies

Author:
Nicola Woodroffe and Erica Westenberg
Publication Date:
09-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Asset transfers in the oil and gas industry are not new. Yet, as the energy transition accelerates, there is a growing risk that oil and gas companies sell assets in response to pressures to decarbonize. However, transferring assets to operators with lower standards can lead to higher emissions and increased risks. This briefing offers a framework to guide these transactions and ensure that environmental and operational integrity is upheld. Designed for use by a range of stakeholders, these principles set out best practices to help companies manage financial, legal, environmental and reputational risks during asset transfers. They were developed with input from representatives of the oil and gas industry; investors, the financial, legal and accounting professions; the insurance industry; standard-setting bodies; academia; and civil society. All stakeholders can adopt and refine these standards to support a responsible, low-emissions future and harmonize regulatory practices across the industry.
Topic:
Corruption, Environment, Oil, Gas, Accountability, Fossil Fuels, and Energy Transition
Political Geography:
Global Focus

18. Tax Avoidance, Tax Evasion and Trade Misinvoicing: Risks to Senegal’s Mining Sector

Author:
William Davis
Publication Date:
09-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Tax evasion, trade misinvoicing and multinational companies’ efforts to avoid tax are important risks in the extractive sector, especially in developing countries, including Senegal. Senegal’s extractive governance arrangements are strong in many areas, including in preventing multinational tax avoidance. However, there is cause for concern in two areas: misinvoicing of international trade (imports and exports), and cost inflation by subcontractors in the extractive industries. Quantitative estimates of trade misinvoicing suggest the former is a significant problem for Senegal (including for its mining sector), which could lead to the loss of 1–3 percent of the country’s tax revenues. Authorities in Senegal should address such risks, especially before the country begins large-scale oil and gas production. Unless they do so, revenues from the country’s hydrocarbon resources will be at risk. Measures that Senegal can take include strengthening the tax authorities—especially customs and auditing accounts of extractive industry suppliers.
Topic:
Corruption, Government, Gas, Mining, Minerals, Tax Evasion, and Public Finance
Political Geography:
Africa and Senegal

19. Scoping Study on Contract Transparency in Mongolia

Author:
Dorjdari Namkhaijantsan and Zoljargal Naranbaatar
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Mongolia’s mining sector plays a crucial role in the economy, contributing to revenue and jobs, but faces significant challenges around governance, corruption and transparency. This scoping study highlights the importance of contract transparency to ensure fair and accountable management of the sector. This report presents the scoping study on Mongolia’s contract transparency, undertaken by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI). The study was made possible with the support and funding of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) International Secretariat and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Topic:
Corruption, Governance, Mining, Transparency, and Contracts
Political Geography:
Mongolia, Asia, and Asia-Pacific

20. Scoping Study on Extractive Sector State Owned Enterprise Disclosures in Mongolia

Author:
Dorjdari Namkhaijantsan
Publication Date:
10-2024
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Natural Resource Governance Institute
Abstract:
Mongolia’s state-owned mining enterprises are crucial to the economy but face transparency and governance issues. This scoping study examines the need for improved disclosures and stronger accountability in the sector. This report presents the scoping study on the disclosures of Mongolia’s state-owned mining enterprises, conducted by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI). The study was supported and funded by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) International Secretariat and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Topic:
Corruption, Governance, Economy, Accountability, Mining, Transparency, Contracts, and State-Owned Enterprises
Political Geography:
Mongolia and Asia