A political career can be a very attractive proposition when corruption is so widely accepted and practiced. In many countries it is the only place where any real money can be made. Politics is the poker table with best odds and the highest stakes in Africa. With such high stakes it is no wonder that it attracts all kinds of adventurers and desperados that would not be tempted to go into politics in countries where there is less money to be made without risk because corruption is better controlled. In my mind, Liberia is a textbook example of the mechanism by which corruption leads to dictatorship, revolution and civil war.
History repeats itself over and over.
We have seen the same process at work not only in Africa but also in many other places, namely South America. As I see it, Russia and Central Asia are now in the dictatorship phase of the cycle . We can all shudder at what the revolution and civil war that might complete the cycle will be like. We are all concerned for corruption prevents the establishment of an even playing field for the operation of the global economy. It is in the interest of each one of us to do something to fight international corruption.