Basel Institute on Governance

This quick guide is the second in a two-part series on the tangible yet under-addressed impacts of corruption on security and the complex power dynamics at play.

This second guide goes deeper into a specific security threat: when states use corruption to gain power and influence over other states and even as a geopolitical tool.

It looks at common features characterising strategic corruption cases, explores what is strategic about it and what this means for governance and security. It highlights the usefulness of “strategic corruption” as an analytical concept, but also urges caution in using it to guide domestic security or foreign policy decisions, or approaches to countering corruption.

About this Quick Guide

You are free to share and republish this work under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 Licence. It is part of the Basel Institute on Governance Quick Guide series, ISSN 2673-5229.