Systemic Corruption in Eurasia

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

In certain countries of the Eurasia region corruption is systemic. Government institutions are captured by informal networks of political, business, and criminal actors who control the allocation of public resources, strategic industries, and key security and law enforcement functions. This seminar analyzes the political economies, power relationships, legal, institutional, historical and normative factors that have engendered systemic corruption across Eurasia, including Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia and the Caucasus. We examine how systemic corruption in Eurasia causes economic stagnation, political repression, conflict -- and war -- and poses a threat to the international liberal rules-based order and democracy. A key learning objective of the seminar is to co-create and innovate solutions to systemic corruption in specific countries that the students will choose.