The Foreign Service Journal, May 2008

44 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A Y 2 0 0 8 orruption presents the United States with as urgent a challenge as any in the developing world, but also one of the easiest to tackle. Terrorism follows the money, and failed states are terror- ism’s playground. The African Union estimates that cor- ruption costs its members at least $150 billion per year, or about one quarter of the continent’s meager GDP. In many African capitals, opulent palaces serve as blatant, daily reminders of where the treasure resides. Dig below the surface of wealth in a corrupt country, however, and you will discover the most prized posses- sion in a cache of ill-gotten gains: the foreign visa, espe- cially one issued by the U.S. The psychological comfort of the visa is incalculable: it is the safety net of egress in times of civil unrest or coup; a destination for shopping sprees and medical treatment; and an educational plat- form for the sons and daughters of the plutocracy. George W. Bush’s Presidential Proclamation 7750, issued at the January 2004 Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico, provides a tool to intervene con- structively to help break the cycle of misery and injustice. The proclamation, which strengthens U.S. immigration laws, mandates the denial of visas to “persons engaged in or benefiting from egregious official corruption.” No unilateral foray, the proclamation meshes with the “No Safe Haven” approach of our Group of Eight part- ners. In the Evian Declaration of May 2003, G-8 mem- bers resolved: “We will each seek in accordance with national laws to deny safe haven to public officials guilty of corruption, by denying them entry, when appropriate, and using extradition and mutual legal assistance laws and mechanisms more effectively.” Yet four years later, Proclamation 7750 has hardly been used. Though it has apparently been applied with some success in the Western Hemisphere, according to State Department officials who declined to provide any further information, it has been used only “dozens, not hundreds of times” worldwide. Moreover, in Africa, where it is most needed and where it could arguably be most effective, it has rarely, if ever, been invoked. The Scourge of Kleptocracy Loyalty to clan and family notwithstanding, the extent of theft in many African nations disproportionately limits F O C U S O N A F R I C A A FRAID OF O UR S HADOW : C ORRUPTION D EVOURS A FRICA ’ S M IDDLE C LASS T HE U.S. NEEDS TO MOVE MORE AGGRESSIVELY AGAINST ENTRENCHED CORRUPTION IN A FRICAN SOCIETIES FOR THE SAKE OF THE CONTINENT ’ S FUTURE . B Y D ANIEL W HITMAN C Daniel Whitman is deputy director of the Office of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the Bureau of African Affairs. He was a Fulbright lecturer in Brazzaville, then served as an FSO in Copenhagen, Madrid, Pretoria, Port- au-Prince and, most recently, Yaoundé. The opinions expressed here are his own, not necessarily those of the Africa Bureau or the U.S. government.