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{
  "authors": [
    "Sarah Chayes"
  ],
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  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
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    "Anti-Corruption"
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  "englishNewsletterAll": "democracy",
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  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "DCG",
  "programs": [
    "Democracy, Conflict, and Governance"
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  "regions": [
    "North America",
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  "topics": [
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Source: Getty

In The Media

The Dramatic Rise in Corruption Driving Extremism

Systemic corruption is a great destabilizing force in governments around the world.

Link Copied
By Sarah Chayes
Published on Jan 28, 2015

Source: WNYC Leonard Lopate Show

In Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security, Sarah Chayes argues that since the late 1990s, corruption has reached such an extent that some governments resemble glorified criminal gangs, bent solely on their own enrichment.

This interview was originally broadcast on WNYC's Leonard Lopate Show.

About the Author

Sarah Chayes

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.

    Recent Work

  • Commentary
    China Financial Markets test

      Sarah Chayes

  • Paper
    Fighting the Hydra: Lessons From Worldwide Protests Against Corruption

      Sarah Chayes

Sarah Chayes
Former Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program
Sarah Chayes
Political ReformSecurityDemocracyNorth AmericaUnited StatesMiddle EastIraqSyriaSouth AsiaAfghanistanGulfLevant

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.

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