Sarah Chayes
{
"authors": [
"Sarah Chayes"
],
"type": "legacyinthemedia",
"centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
"centers": [
"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
],
"collections": [
"Anti-Corruption"
],
"englishNewsletterAll": "democracy",
"nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
"primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"programAffiliation": "DCG",
"programs": [
"Democracy, Conflict, and Governance"
],
"projects": [],
"regions": [
"South Asia",
"Afghanistan"
],
"topics": [
"Political Reform",
"Democracy"
]
}Source: Getty
Sarah Chayes: “Thieves Of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security”
Corruption can plant the seeds of violent religious extremism, and it’s happening worldwide.
Source: NPR’s Diane Rehm Show
Sarah Chayes arrived in Afghanistan as a journalist. But the rampant corruption she encountered there drove her to stay for years afterward, fighting for change. Corruption touched every corner of daily life in the country; from crossing police checkpoints to paying utility bills, a bribe was required to accomplish almost anything. This was breeding deep anger and resentment in the Afghan people, Chayes discovered. And now the foreign policy expert has an urgent warning based on what she’s learned: Corruption can plant the seeds of violent religious extremism – and it’s happening worldwide.
This interview was originally broadcast on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show.
About the Author
Former Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Sarah Chayes is internationally recognized for her innovative thinking on corruption and its implications. Her work explores how severe corruption can help prompt such crises as terrorism, revolutions and their violent aftermaths, and environmental degradation.
- China Financial Markets testCommentary
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
- Parliamentary Elections in Occupied Ukraine Risk Backfiring for the KremlinCommentary
Despite unhappiness on the ground, Moscow is determined to use both carrot and stick to ensure there is record support for United Russia in occupied Ukraine.
Konstantin Skorkin
- Moldova’s Ruling Party PAS Must Graduate From Crisis Management to State GovernanceCommentary
Whether PAS can refocus on the unfinished business of state-building may ultimately prove more consequential for Moldova’s European future than the pace of its accession negotiations.
Balázs Jarábik
- Snubbed by United Russia as Elections Loom, Medvedev Looks Condemned to Eternal ObscurityCommentary
Medvedev’s defeat in the battle for the position of speaker appears to signal that the long process of his marginalization in Russian politics has passed the point of no return.
Andrey Pertsev
- Loyal but Powerless: The Downgrading of Russia’s ElitePaper
The ruling elites in contemporary Russia are not a political class, but a community of managers who are not subject to competition or public accountability. The state is becoming an operating apparatus without any internal autonomy.
Alexandra Prokopenko
- What Does Pashinyan’s Parliamentary Victory Mean for Armenia’s Future?Commentary
Pashinyan’s pro-European party has been re-elected with a decisive victory. But the pro-Russian opposition could still slow Armenia’s progress toward peace with Azerbaijan and rapprochement with Europe.
Mikayel Zolyan