The publication by Transparency International (TI) of the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) for 2016 does not offer many revelations. At the top of the integrity scale we find the traditional North European countries in the company of New Zealand, in the following order : Denmark with the highest score (least corruption) of 90, New Zealand 90, Finland 89, Sweden 88 and Switzerland 86.

At the opposite side of the range, we have Somalia with the lowest score (highest corruption level) of 10, followed by South Sudan 11, North Korea 12, Syria 13, and Yemen 14. It is interesting to highlight the common denominator for this group of countries (with the exception of North Korea, an outcast under continuous threat that has eluded overt aggression): all of them have been zeroed in on by the Western powers, led by the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the NATO for a sustained job of destruction and killing. Could war be a determining agent of corruption that escaped the searching eyes of the World Bank, the United Nations, the OECD and the other dedicated corruption hunters?

The median position is taken by Jamaica with a score of 39, Lesotho 39, Mongolia 38, Panama 38, Colombia 37, and Indonesia 37.

Sources: Transparency International.

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