The Foreign Service Journal, June 2016

22 JUNE 2016 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL The following is excerpted from the speech by Secretary of State John F. Kerry to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 22. We have to acknowledge in all quarters of leadership that the plagues of violent extremism, greed, lust for power and sectarian exploitation often find their nourishment where governments are fragile and leaders are incompetent or dishonest. And that is why the quality of governance is no longer just a domestic concern. … Now, obviously, corruption’s not a new problem. Every nation has faced it at one time or another in its development. America’s own Founding Fathers knew the threat of cor- ruption all too well, warning of the dangers that it posed to democratic governance. But today, corruption has grown at an alarming pace and threatens global growth, global stabil- ity and, indeed, the global future. … Still in the United States, my friends, we continue to prosecute corruption, and [at the same time] we live with a pay-to-play campaign finance system that should not be wished on any other country in the world. I used to be a prosecutor, and I know how hard it is to hold people in posi- tions of public responsibility accountable. But I also know how important it is. The fact is there is nothing—absolutely nothing—more demoralizing, more destructive, more disempowering to any citizen than the belief that the system is rigged against them and that people in positions of power are, to use a diplomatic term of art, crooks who are stealing the future of their own people; and by the way, depositing their ill-gotten gains in ostensibly legitimate financial institutions around the world. Corruption is a social danger because it feeds organized crime; it destroys nation-states; it imperils opportunities, particularly for women and girls; it facilitates environmen- tal degradation; it contributes to human trafficking; and it undermines whole communities. It destroys the future. Corruption is a radicalizer because it destroys faith in legitimate authority. It opens up a vacuum which allows the predators to move in. And no one knows that better than the violent extremist groups, who regularly use corruption as a recruitment tool. The Challenge of Governance BY SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN F. KERRY Corruption is an opportunity destroyer because it discourages honest and accountable investment; it makes businesses more expensive to operate; it drives up the cost of public services for local taxpayers; and it turns a nation’s entire budget into a feeding trough for the privileged few. And that is why it is imperative that the business com- munity of the world starts to demand a different standard of behavior, that we deepen the fight against corruption, making it a first-order, national security priority. … All told, corruption costs the global economy—global GDP—more than a trillion dollars a year. ... This corruption complicates, I assure you, every single security, diplomatic and social priority of the U.S. government and other govern- ments trying to help other countries around the world. And by itself it creates tension, instability and a perfect playing field for predators. It is simply stunning to me ... that in the year 2016, more than 20 million people are the victims of modern-day slav- ery in what has become a $150 billion illicit human traffick- ing industry. The New York Times recently had a compelling story on its front page of a young Cambodian boy seduced into leaving his country and going to Thailand, believing he’d be part of a construction company. He wound up at sea for two years with a shackle around his neck as a slave in an illegal fishing operation. Those numbers should shock the conscience of every person into action, because although money is legitimately and always will be used for many things, it shouldn’t be hard for us to agree that in the 21st century, we should never, ever, ever allow a price tag to be attached to the freedom of another human being. The bottom line is that it is everybody’s responsibility to condemn and expose corruption, to hold perpetrators accountable and to replace a culture of corruption …with a standard that expects honesty as a regular way of doing business. Never forget: The impact of corruption touches every- one—businesses, the private sector, every citizen. We all pay for it. So we have to wage this fight collectively—not reluctantly, but wholeheartedly—by embracing standards that make corruption the exception and not the norm.