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After the conflict: nation building and corruption
Transparency International
Transparency International
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Abstract
"The corruption challenges for post-conflict countries4 will depend on the sources and extent of corruption prior to and during the conflict. Corruption may be a trigger of conflict due to greed-fuelled struggles over money, natural resources, power or all three. During conflicts, corruption may also be used as a means of feeding power struggles (economic and political), as a coping strategy (survival), for getting things done (inefficient bureaucracy), or for benefitting from the prevailing uncertainty (profiteering). These drivers of corruption, as well as the networks and relations that underpin them, are likely to be carried over into the post-conflict phase, when nascent institutions cannot yet fill the governance vacuum, and nation-building itself offers promising new rent-seeking opportunities for powerful elites. At this stage, the role of donors and international assistance is crucial. Once conflict ends, aid tends to follow quickly — from bilateral donors, multilateral agencies and international non-governmental organisations. Although there is an understandable desire and demand by donors to achieve quick results — such as constructing roads, schools and hospitals — the pressure to disburse large amounts of funds often meets with limited absorptive capacity on the part of countries receiving the assistance. To prevent aid (both funding and projects) from becoming a source of corruption, policies need to have a very clear anticorruption focus. This must be reflected in their design, implementation and oversight, through horizontal and vertical accountability mechanisms. Taking short-cuts on what aid is provided for and how can lead to parallel donor structures that do not help the legitimacy of the state and which deprive the public sector of building skills and ownership. It can also contribute to an accountability void (see side bar). 2. Nation-building: the risks of corruption Nation-building aims to secure government legitimacy and rebuild society, physically as well as psychologically. Related efforts on nation-building can be grouped around four key areas: security and public safety, political leadership, economic growth and social integration. As a long-term process, the ultimate goal of nation-building is to bind different groups, which may have been in conflict with each other, around a legitimate, ethical and trusted government (see side bar). Corruption can make this endpoint elusive, however, by destroying citizens’ belief in a fair peace and the notion of a nation. Security and public safety Laying down weapons — whether as a result of brokered negotiations, external intervention or collective decision-making — is based on the idea that the return on this action is greater than a continuing conflict. Whether this holds true is tied to ensuring that public safety and personal security return in the country or areas that have been affected. Otherwise, arms and violence may be viewed as a better alternative than the peace provided by the state."
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2010-11-04
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With permission of the license/copyright holder