This major new report from Transparency International – Defense & Security examines the underlying processes and pathways to influence between the American defense export sector, the federal government, the defense bureaucracy, and Middle East and North Africa (MENA) governments. These pathways enable American defense firms to export arms and defense services to MENA countries despite many regimes’ poor human rights and governance records, lack of transparency and accountability, and questionable outcomes for US foreign policy.

Corruption is frequently described as a ‘cancer’: a malign force which undermines societal development and security, but one that is amorphous and devoid of deliberate intent. In many contexts, this is an accurate depiction; in others, it does not tell the whole story. This is especially the case where corruption is used, consciously and intentionally, as an instrument of statecraft, to help achieve foreign policy goals.

Transparency International UK and Spotlight on Corruption have written to Attorney General Geoffrey Cox urging him explain the reason for an 18-month delay to a major corruption investigation into Airbus subsidiary GPT Special Project Management.

In September 2016 Transparency International (TI), The B Team, the Open Contracting Partnership and Wilton Park organised a conference, bringing together government and civil society representatives to develop an understanding of how they would advance implementation of the commitments made at the 2016 Anti-Corruption Summit.

More than two years later, TI and Wilton Park re-convened stakeholders from even more countries to take stock of progress made since the Summit, recognise implementation to-date and identify where there was more work to be done.

Following several years of debate, Tunisia finally has strong legislation regarding access to information. The government adopted a law to this effect in 2016, praised by many as being one of the most progressive access to information laws in the world. However, the law has faced limitations to its application, which include overzealous application of national security related exceptions.