Overview

Bribery plays a significant role in international criminal activity. Terrorists pay bribes. Money-launderers pay bribes. Those who traffic in people, narcotics, and illegal arms pay bribes. People pay immigration officers not to ask, customs officials not to inspect, and police officers not to investigate. Bribes follow patterns that are not at all mysterious to the officials, salesmen, and citizens who seek them and pay them. Using a series of international cases, Wrage examines bribery, peeling back the mystique and ambiguity and exposing the very simple transactions that lie beneath. She shows how these seemingly everyday transactions can affect security, democratization, and human aid. Examples from around the world help to illustrate the nature of the problem and efforts at combating it. Bribery plays a significant role in international criminal activity. Terrorists pay bribes. Money-launderers pay bribes. Those who traffic in people, narcotics, and illegal arms pay bribes. People pay immigration officers not to ask, customs officials not to inspect, and police officers not to investigate. At corporate headquarters in the United States, it can be easy to dismiss modest bribes in distant countries as an unfortunate cost of doing business. Bribes follow patterns that are not at all mysterious to the officials, salesmen, and citizens who seek them and pay them. Using a series of international cases, Wrage examines bribery, peeling back the mystique and ambiguity and exposing the very simple transactions that lie beneath. She shows how these seemingly everyday transactions can affect security, democratization, and human aid around the globe. Bribery and Extortion presents a clear picture of the world of bribery and the havoc it can wreak on whole populations. Wrage covers commercial bribery, administrative and service-based bribery, and extortion. She considers bribery and extortion at both high levels of government and lower levels on the street. Examples from around the world help to illustrate the nature of the problem and efforts at combating it. The book concludes with practical suggestions and an assessment of current efforts to stem the tide of bribery and restore transparency to everyday transactions in all realms.

Full Product Details

9780275996499

Table of Contents

Reviews

Bribery and Extortion is a brilliant and important book. Although reports of instances of corruption can be found in the newspapers almost every day, systemic analyses of its forms, causes, and costs are much harder to find. Alexandra Wrage's book fills this gap admirably and provides a compelling anatomical dissection of an insufficiently understood social pathology. Citing U.S. and international examples, Wrage demonstrates that corruption is not only an economic problem, but it corrodes every thing it touches--legal foundations, governments, and even cultures. No one can read the book and fail to come away with a much more acute understanding of the threat posed by the many variants of corruption at all levels and sectors of society, or by the need to address this threat with greater urgency and purpose. -Alberto Mora, VP & General Counsel, International Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

<p> Wrage documents numerous horror stories, drawing on published sources and on her own experiences with TRACE, an antibribery nongovernmental organization. There is a sophisticated discussion of the transition from customary gift giving to modern bribery....The author sees exposure as the best antidote--making transactions with foreign or domestic public money as transparent as possible and raising the salience of bribery on the international agenda. - <p>Foreign Affairs

Author Information

Alexandra Addison Wrage is an international attorney and President of TRACE International, a nonprofit, anti-bribery business association with over 1,000 corporate members in more than 100 countries. She has worked as in-house counsel for both Northrop Grumman Corporation and MCI Communications. She has written numerous articles on practical anti-bribery strategies and speaks frequently on topics of international law and the hidden costs of corruption.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available