The COVID-19 outbreak is not only a health crisis, but it also poses wider risks that may have repercussions on human and state security worldwide. Security is already deteriorating across the globe with millions of people vulnerable to conflicts and extremism. While emergency legislation is hastily drafted and security sector actors are given prominent roles […]
Corruption is widely recognized as one the major stumbling blocks in US government efforts to improve the capacity of foreign defense forces to address shared international security threats over the past 15 years. This report assesses the current state of US arms export controls to identify and curb corruption in US arms sales. It first […]
Defence industry players, elected officials, the defence bureaucracy, and governments in the Middle East are intertwined and serve one another’s interest, often at the expense of US foreign policy outcomes. These mutually-beneficial relationships have contributed to a vicious cycle of conflict and human rights abuses across the Middle East and North Africa, including increased exports […]
Corruption is frequently described as a ‘cancer’: a malign force which undermines societal development and security, but one that is amorphous and devoid of deliberate intent. In many contexts, this is an accurate depiction; in others, it does not tell the whole story. This is especially the case where corruption is used, consciously and intentionally, […]
Corruption is widely recognized as one of the fundamental drivers of conflict in Mali. A lack of accountability to the population and a failure to address internal patronage networks has fed into two coup d’états, human rights abuses and the permissive environment for transnational trafficking and organized criminal activity that has fuelled regional conflict. In […]
Since 1948, and the birth of modern peacekeeping, the United Nations has been engaged in over 70 peacekeeping (and numerous political) missions in countries experiencing violent conflict. The 14 current operations (and 11 field-based Special Political Missions) involve personnel from over 125 countries in increasingly proactive engagement, with the UN finding itself a protagonist in […]
United Nations (UN) peace operations have always faced complex challenges, and in the current international environment, these are set to increase. The process of designing and delivering a peace operation is exceptionally challenging and profoundly political – from the initial mandate design and approval, the involvement of multiple actors (both UN and non-UN), through to […]
Plan Colombia – one of the largest security assistance programmes ever undertaken – is widely seen as successful. It helped construct modern, effective armed forces in Colombia capable of tackling the drug trafficking and insurgency threats. But what is usually overlooked is the link between the Plan and corruption issues: the impact that corruption had […]
Corruption and conflict are bedfellows and their coexistence feeds a vicious circle of violence and instability. Military interventions in fragile and conflict states will need to contend with corrupt practices that can undermine the purpose of the mission, perpetuate insecurity, and cause misery for whole societies. Whether corruption undermines mission goals depends to a large […]
As international interventions – from stabilisation missions and peacekeeping contributions to security assistance – frequently take place in environments affected by corruption and conflict, they will need to grapple with corruption issues, including the particularly destructive form corruption can take in defence and security forces. Their design and implementation will need to take corruption risks […]
The Niger Delta is the most important oil-producing region in Africa, with its oil providing 70 per cent of Nigeria’s government revenue. However, alongside the legitimate trade in the Delta’s oil products, there is a lucrative and organised illicit oil trade that reportedly loses Nigeria 200,000 barrels of oil every day. Participants in oil theft, […]
Following several years of debate, Tunisia finally has strong legislation regarding access to information. The government adopted a law to this effect in 2016, praised by many as being one of the most progressive access to information laws in the world. However, the law has faced limitations to its application, which include overzealous application of […]