The Economist highlights impending European Union sanctions aimed at corrupt politicians in Bulgaria, with 1 billion euro (US$1.6 billion) in aid at stake. While this certainly seems like a bad news day for Bulgaria, the tough medicine being imposed by the EU is a pretty strong signal that corruption in Bulgaria is being challenged. This…
We’re pleased to announce the short list for the Global Integrity Report: 2008, including 16 countries never previously assessed by Global Integrity. The countries comprising the Global Integrity Report: 2008 will be drawn from this list, with fieldwork beginning this month. This list was compiled after careful thought and debate in the Global Integrity office…
Last month, Global Integrity’s Raymond June & Jonathan Werve visited Papua New Guinea (PNG), where we talked with our local research team, as well grassroots advocates, journalists, government officials and academics about the dire state of governance in PNG. In the process, they identified several areas that urgently need to be addressed. This is what…
Nalaka Gunawardene at Groundviews writes on the empowering rise of mobile phone usage among Sri Lanka’s poor — and the regulators who seem determined to stop it. Just as the controversial adoption of pants 40 years ago blurred class lines, elites are fighting the spread of mobiles among the tech-saavy poor. Sadly, regulators seem all-too-willing…
Our colleagues at Transparency International in Bosnia-Herzegovina (TI BiH) have been forced to temporarily suspend operations and evacuate their office following accusations leveled by Prime Minister Milorad Dodik that they are involved in organized crime. At Global Integrity, we’ve had the pleasure of working with TI-BiH directly and find the accusations outrageous. Professionalism and impartiality…
Still curious about Cameroon’s PR initiative in last week’s Washington Post (see our previous post, “Cameroon’s War on Corruption: Reality or Good PR?“), we decided to do some additional digging into the ad. Thanks to the pre-World War II-era Foreign Agents Registration Act, all foreign governments lobbying the U.S. government or seeking to influence U.S.…