Reviews

• Excellent work

  Very interesting and informative book on widely spread corruption in the world, with special reference to the Middle East. The author's analysis clarifies complex structures and mechanisms behind corruption which have provoked anger and distrust among people against their own governments in the region. Further analysis will be await on another side of these complex mechanisms on corruption, i.e. the side of wealthier developed countries including US, the author's own country which have encouraged and consolidated corruption in the Middle East.

• This is one of the best books I have read this year

  This is one of the best books I have read this year. The thesis is simple: what makes insurgent and terrorist groups thrive in countries like Afghanistan is corruption and injustice, not religious beliefs or nationalistic impulses. Corruption makes their children go hungry and their businesses fail, and allows their property to be taken away. Injustice means that their wrongs are never righted, and in fact the corrupt exploiters are protected. Chayes demonstrates that this corruption is not just perpetrated by small time officials seeking petty backhanders. It goes all the way to the top. In countries from Afghanistan to Algeria, Nigeria to Uzbekistan, it is the ruling elite which manages and takes most benefit from the corruption. The money flows to the top. More shocking is her demonstration that Western governments deliberately and persistently turn a blind eye to this, indeed actively discourage its reporting. They are too close to and complicit with the corrupt governments with whom they are allies. In this respect, the West is actively propagating the circumstances which feed the terrorists with desperate volunteers who have lost everything - and therefore have nothing to lose. Chayes presents her argument in writing which is crisp and incisive when analysing corrupt practices, and subtle and atmospheric when evoking the countries and people that suffer from them. She combines first hand personal experience with rigorous analysis of primary sources including US state department memos, informed by Medieval and Renaissance texts on good governance from a France to Persia. One of the most painful facts she presents in her magnificent book is that there is nothing new. Today's corruption follows the template of that against which the writers of "Mirror Books" were warning kings in the 13th century. Plus ca change.

• The revenge of the 47 Ronin

  I am sure that what I shall find inside the book is something difficult to understand to an european mind but what I want is read the cronicle of the mere facts. I hope I shall find it understandable as many other books I bought in English Language. Galland5

• A must-read for legislators and people with stars on their shoulders

  Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security, by Sarah Chayes, describes the nature and practice of corruption and its effects and consequences on the hapless citizens whose lives are governed by ruthless regimes. The book deserves the widest possible readership, and has been endorsed by luminaries such as Anne-Marie Slaughter, Sebastian Junger and Francis Fukuyama. It is a truly creative and original work. What gives the book its credibility and authenticity is Chayes’ unique perspective. An experienced journalist, she launches and NGO and then establishes a soap-making cooperative in Afghanistan in the midst of the protracted military conflict, and, of necessity, must learn to deal with the endemic Afghan corruption. The experience yields invaluable insight into the problems of systemic corruption in Afghanistan, as well as in other countries Chayes examines in the book. This street-level view provides anecdotal material that succinctly illuminates how corruption alienates the Afghan people from both their government and the United States, which is seen as an enabler and protector of the corrupt regime. That alienation impels the disaffected Afghanis to join with the Taliban and other nefarious elements in the society. Moving from her role as a struggling entrepreneur, the author, who speaks Arabic and Pashto, becomes a respected advisor and counselor to the highest level American military commanders working on policy issues. Here, she gains insight into policy formulation and frequently thwarted policy implementation. Drawing upon her distinctive experience, Chayes is able to conceptualize and dramatically describe specific ways that Karzai’s kleptocratic autocracy misgoverns Afghanistan. She then aptly extrapolates her insight and experience to other vulnerable states, depicting the respective models they use to control and oppress their citizens. One critical comment Chayes makes is that unless the US and other international stakeholders work actively to cure the problem of corruption, primary reliance on military solutions to profound political dysfunction will be counter-productive and eventually futile. Be forewarned, the work melds different perspectives expressed in different voices from diverse points of view. It shifts from a first-person anecdotal narrative to a third-person journalist’s point of view, then shifts again to the dispassionate voice of a scholar. This creates some disjointedness in the narrative that the editors have had to struggle with. However, this is a mere quibble and does not detract from the book’s powerful delivery and message. Indeed, whatever the flaws, they are balanced by the coherent framework created by Chayes’ sparkling thematic discussion of the various “mirror writers.’ These were authors who, through the ages, recognized the importance of corruption to governance and warned princes and other rulers about the dangers and consequences of neglecting the problem. Also unifying the work are the pithily written chapters describing the different and shocking patterns of corruption existing in Egypt, Uzbekistan, Nigeria and several other states. Admirably, Chayes goes beyond conceptualization and analysis. She provides a compelling blueprint for development of anti-corruption policies and activities in the Remedies chapter at the end of the work. This work exhibits extraordinary cognitive intelligence in its ability to ‘connect the dots.’ Though this may be an unusual way to bestow an encomium in a review, I recommend that Chayes be nominated for a MacArthur grant; and at the April 2016 conference of the American Society of International Law, Thieves of State should be a topic of a symposium co-chaired by Chayes and Anne-Marie Slaughter. Bernard M. Brodsky

• Corruption as #1 Cause of International Instability

  As a world traveler, I welcome Sarah's book. At last, an authoritative treatment of the #1 problem facing the entire world. Sarah has a valuable inside track on the conduct of the Afghan war which has been and continues to be bungled for exactly the reasons she points out. The fact is that America has never been particularly interested in the welfare of the citizens in the countries it seeks to dominate. In case after case, this neglect has resulted in a shooting war, causing the deaths of thousands but never coming close to resolving the core issue: systemic corruption. This is a timely reminder for Americans who now face an organized takeover of their government by the Russians and the Trump crime family. As money launderer in chief, Trump has facilitated kleptocracies around the world for years. Extensive business partnership with known criminals is a common thread in his building projects. Re-writing the tax code to put money in the pockets of the Trumps are another. Sweeping replacement of Federal judges by right-wingers and staffing the Federal government with otherwise incompetent individuals who will owe their position to the good graces of DT is another. It's not about policy. It's about corruption.

• Should be obligatory reading for foreign relations operators

  I could not help feeling foolish reading this book renouncing ways of working that have been mine, too, by action and by omission. But at least I am in good company. The description of how corrupt regimes function is a real wake-up call and the parallels in the Western society, past and present, keeps the feeling of superiority duly in check. Ms Chayes does not only tell us what is wrong with us, but also gives ideas of how we could concretely improve our policy making and delivery. As a journalist, she can also tell her story in a way that makes this book a real page turner, and it should be put in the hands of everybody who is engaged in foreign relations or development work.

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