Quotable notes
Quotable notes
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“Corruption alienates and angers citizens, which can cause them to lose faith in the state, or, worse, fuel political instability and violent extremism. “Just look at Ukraine. The protesters on Maidan had many grievances, but one of their most pressing – part of what drove Ukrainians into the streets in frigid temperatures – was that they were fed up with the sleaze, graft and cronyism that had been robbing the country of its promise for far too long. They resented a kleptocratic regime parading around in democratic trappings. “Nominal ‘public servants’ like [Viktor] Yanukovych and his cronies not only enriched themselves at the cost of schools, roads and hospitals, but they also weakened public institutions and created wormholes in key sectors like energy and the media that malicious actors continue to exploit.