CORRUPTION

Special Themed Issue: Editors’ Introduction
Following on from our previous issue on Migration and Statelessness, this issue focuses on
the themes of Corruption and Human Trafficking. Both topics disrupt and are disrupted by
the state—at one extreme corruption and human trafficking may be state-sponsored through
compliance or a lack of checks on the processes and institutions that give growth to such
crimes; these are largely insidious alliances. On the other end, the range of those working to
tackle these issues and the methods for assessing and addressing them, is expansive and varied.
Across states globally, the issue of corruption in both state institutions and in businesses and
services, damages trust in the state and impacting individuals at different levels. In addressing
the realities in which corruption has tainted established and developing democracies, a range
of article/opinion pieces, research notes and interviews are presented in this issue. Coverage
transverse the fields of security (Frank Vogl from Transparency International and his article on
forging a US strategy), to Louise Shelley’s discussion of her 2014 book on the link between
corruption and terrorism, to analysis of policy-making efforts to combat corruption (Prof.
Emeritus Michael Johnston to discussion of finance (with Raymond Baker); to the legal
aspects of developing anti-corruption legislation (interview with Assistant Dean at The George
Washington Law School, Jessica Tillipman), through to development and civil engagement
(interview with OECD’s J.B. Terracino; research note (Peiffer at IDD, at the University of
Birmingham (UK)), to discussion of Transparency International’s ongoing civil engagement
project in Macedonia. Whistleblowing (Suelette Dreyfus), transparency in public procurement
and contracting (Hivos) to issues of corruption in the Olympics (Professor Emerita Helen
Jefferson Lenskyj) to the health and pharmaceutical sector (Kohler and Mackey)—demonstrate
the wide-reaching tentacles of corruption and its impact.
International Affairs Forum
Human trafficking, like corruption, is partially hidden as an issue—everyone knows that it
exists, but tracking and identifying it can be more elusive. In contrast to corruption, many
argue that human trafficking impacts particular sectors of the population more adversely
(women and children), although it can take different forms. States and organizations globally
have made significant efforts to eradicate the trafficking of humans—discussion of these
efforts in this issue focuses on anti-trafficking frameworks and includes: EU Anti-trafficking
Coordination efforts and frameworks (discussed by the EU Commission’s Dr. M. Vassiliadou,
and Dr. Monacò of the Bar Association of Naples), to NGO efforts (L. Skillen). Because
different areas of the world have different experiences and perspectives of the problem,
this issue includes discussions on the human trafficking tragedy in Sub-Saharan Africa
(Thipanyane), West Africa (Dickson), and child trafficking in China (Shen). Another layer to
the issue is the “who” and “why”—leading to discussions about the perpetrators of human
trafficking—from “state sponsored slavery” (Abdulla) to the private sector (Friedman);
to those dramatically impacted by human trafficking (women—as discussed in interview
with Bien-Aimè, and in the article by Denton from the LSE, UK); as well as the reasons
for economic forces behind it (Lawson interview) to a more specific commodity—organ
trafficking (Lundin interview and Nancy Scheper-Hughes article).
Corruption and human trafficking are tangibly linked issues in many parts of the globe.
Recognized as major concerns by policy-makers, academics, and global leaders alike, many
will agree that the challenge in tackling these issues is due to their nature: these criminal acts