Richard Nephew is a Senior Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a member of the Economic Statecraft Task Force. He was the inaugural U.S. Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption at the Department of State from 2022 to 2024.
Corruption is a major factor in why violent conflicts are proliferating worldwide and proving so hard to end. For the first 20 years of this century, Afghanistan served as an important case in point. External investment in the country was siphoned off by corrupt state...