Conflict and corruption are often deeply intertwined: conflict breeds corruption, and in turn, corruption often fuels conflict. When international forces intervene in conflict zones, their approach to corruption once in theatre is critical to the success of their mission.  
 
Corrupt activities can fund insurgencies, fuelling instability and endangering peacekeeping troops. Corrupt activities by peacekeeping forces destroy their legitimacy and limit the operation’s effectiveness. In many cases corruption is an underlying feature of an unstable or unjust pre-conflict environment which has prompted or facilitated hostilities, and corruption becomes entrenched and increasingly predatory as a situation evolves, prolonging the conflict and hindering peacebuilding efforts.

Corruption manifests itself in many ways in conflict environments—and in international conflicts, interventions, or peacekeeping missions, corruption problems are often at least partly caused by the international community. A diagnosis of corruption in conflict environments is shown on the image below.

Because defence corruption risks are naturally highest in conflict environments, TI-DSP works with many members of governments, armed forces, and security services who work in conflict zones. Much of our work is currently focused on Afghanistan. We work closely with NATO on building integrity among Afghan national security forces and with the defence and interior ministries.

Understanding why corruption occurs in conflict environments

Transparency International's Defence and Security Programme regularly holds pre- and post-deployment briefings with UK troops. These meetings give us the perspective of soldiers on the ground, which helps us understand how and why corruption occurs in conflict environments, how it manifests itself to soldiers in theatre, and gives ideas of how it can be addressed. We are currently in the process of developing a thorough and comprehensive Doctrine for Operations for UK soldiers abroad.   

In some cases, the international community must address corruption from the highest level.  TI believes there are several situations where corruption requires the full attention of the UN Special Representative and a policy response:

• When corruption is one of the prime causes of the conflict and/or a current driver of its continuation.
• When corruption is an issue of major concern to a country’s citizens, as identified by opinion surveys, and the UN has a broad mandate. A current example is Afghanistan.
• When there are substantial state assets and natural resources at risk of misappropriation.
• When continuing corruption poses a major threat to reconstruction and to the likelihood of UN forces being able to leave.

A quick comparison of recent international and civil conflicts and the countries’ score on the 2011 corruption perceptions index (CPI) shows the correlation between conflict and corruption.

• Afghanistan scored 1.4 (ranking 176th)
• Iraq scored 1.5 (ranking 175th)
• Somalia scored 1.1 (ranking 178th)
• Sudan scored 1.6 (ranking 172nd)
• The Democratic Republic of the Congo scored 2.0 (ranking 164th)

In addition, there is a strong correlation between the CPIs of countries which broke out into revolution or violent protests protests in early 2011:

• Libya scored 2.2 (ranking 146th)
• Yemen also scored 2.2 (also 146th)
• Egypt scored 3.1 (ranking 98th)
• Tunisia scored 4.3 (ranking 59th)
• Syria scored 2.5 (ranking 127th)
• Bahrain scored 4.9 (ranking 48th)

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