“Corruption alienates and angers citizens, which can cause them to lose faith in the state, or, worse, fuel political instability and violent extremism.
“Just look at Ukraine. The protesters on Maidan had many grievances, but one of their most pressing – part of what drove Ukrainians into the streets in frigid temperatures – was that they were fed up with the sleaze, graft and cronyism that had been robbing the country of its promise for far too long. They resented a kleptocratic regime parading around in democratic trappings.
“Nominal ‘public servants’ like [Viktor] Yanukovych and his cronies not only enriched themselves at the cost of schools, roads and hospitals, but they also weakened public institutions and created wormholes in key sectors like energy and the media that malicious actors continue to exploit. Corruption had weakened service delivery, scared off investment, and crippled the justice system. Businesses, and even foreign countries had for years bought and bribed their way into political influence over Ukrainian legislative and procurement decisions.
“And as public frustration boiled, Russian interference escalated. Ukrainian security institutions that were needed to fend off Russian aggression struggled to mount an adequate defense. For years, they had been starved of funding or weakened by graft, rendering them less effective. This left the Ukrainian people vulnerable to outside aggressors. …”
– Sarah Sewall, undersecretary for civilian security, democracy and human rights at the U.S. Department of State, speaking in Brussels on January 20.