Oligarchy, Corruption, and Kleptocracy in Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia

Catalog description

Corruption is one of the main political pathologies that can undermine government transparency and therefore limit the ability of government to represent and deliver for citizens. It exists in all countries to varying degrees, and is endemic in post-communist Eastern and Central Europe and Eurasia - in part due to the way former state assets were privatized in the 1990s - and though it can be a mainly domestic phenomenon, it contributes to malign foreign influence as well. Corruption erodes public trust and has affected negatively not only the consolidation of democratic institutions, but in some cases the ability to form a functional government at all or to know who is driving government decision making and on the basis of what interests. Corruption and kleptocracy in the region also have fueled domestic and international conflicts and have impacted European, American, and global security. In this seminar-format course, taught by a practitioner who has served as the National Security Council Director for Central Europe and the Balkans, students will examine the roots, mechanisms, and consequences of corruption and kleptocracy, and will seek to understand some of the available tools to counter them (including, i.a., sanctions, law enforcement, financial transparency initiatives, investigative journalism, and international relations tools such as the EU accession process). They will read case studies from Central and Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine, and the Balkans, analyze and compare these cases, and discuss the adequacy of citizens' and the international community's attempts to address them thus far. Each student will also write a final paper examining a country or situation and proposing responses to mitigate or eliminate corruption and its consequences in that case.