U.S. to crack down on international corruption

In a move that can have knock-on effects for global efforts to clamp down kleptocracy, U.S President Joe Biden on Thursday announced a new push to formally place the anti-corruption plight at the center of American foreign policy, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"Corruption is a risk to our national security, and we must recognize it as such," Biden said in a statement, directing government agencies to review ways to modernize and better resource efforts to hold corrupt actors accountable, tackle illicit finance, and work with international partners to counter strategic corruption by authoritarian regimes.

The move comes amid growing recognition in the U.S capital of corruption's national security risk. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is set to launch a new congressional Caucus against foreign corruption and kleptocracy next week.

The United States, the White House said in a statement, "will lead by example and in partnership with allies, civil society, and the private sector to fight the scourge of corruption."

Speaking to reporters via a teleconference, Senior Administration Officials said on Thursday that Washington is "going to be looking at all of the tools in our disposal to make sure that we identify corruption where it's happening and take appropriate policy responses."

".... [W]e're also going to be using this effort to think about what more we can do to bolster other actors that are out in the world exposing corruption and bringing it to light."

The official also said the effort would likely involve thinking about how the U.S. can better use sanctions to address corruption. "But sanctions are not the only tool in our toolkit."

".... We're looking to make significant systemic changes to the regulatory structure that governs illicit finance. We're looking to increase the use of law enforcement tools to go after corrupt actors. We're looking to improve upon U.S. foreign assistance as a tool and increase the role that anticorruption plays in our day-to-day diplomatic work in bilateral engagements, in multilateral fora. So, thinking about how sanctions are going to impact our anti-corruption agenda will be part of this conversation, but in no way will it be limited to sanctions," the official concluded.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.