“Corruption is a cancer within the body of societies—a disease that eats at public trust and the ability of governments to deliver for their citizens. The deleterious effects of corruption impact nearly all aspects of society. It exacerbates social, political, and economic inequality and polarization, impedes the ability of states to respond to public health crises or to deliver quality education; degrades the business environment and economic opportunity; drives conflict; and undermines faith in government. Those that abuse positions of power for private gain steal not just material wealth, but human dignity and welfare” (President Biden, 3 June 2021).

On 3 June 2021, President Biden established the fight against corruption as a core national security interest of the United States. In the National Security Study Memorandum-1 (NSSM-1) the President stated:

“Corruption threatens the United States national security, economic equity, global anti-poverty and development efforts, and democracy itself. By effectively preventing and countering corruption and demonstrating the advantages of transparent and accountable governance, we can secure a critical advantage for the United States and other democracies.”

When government officials abuse public power for private gain, they do more than simply appropriate illicitwealth. Corruption robs citizens of equal access to vital services, denying the right to quality healthcare, public safety, and education. It degrades the business environment, subverts economic opportunity, and exacerbatesinequality. It often contributes to human rights violations and abuses and can drive migration. As a fundamental threat to the rule of law, corruption hollows out institutions, corrodes public trust, and fuels popular cynicism toward effective, accountable governance.

Moreover, the impacts of corruption frequently reverberate far beyond the immediate environment in which theacts take place. In today’s globalized world, corrupt actors bribe across borders, leverage the international financial markets to stash illicit wealth abroad, and abuse democratic institutions to launder their funds and their reputations, and to advance anti-democratic aims. Emerging research and major journalistic exposéshave documented the extent to which legal and regulatory deficiencies in the developed world offer corrupt actors the means to offshore and launder illicit wealth and reputations. This dynamic in turn strengthens the hand of those autocratic leaders whose rule is predicated on the ability to co-opt and reward elites.