
Strategic corruption
This Quick Guide is the second in a two-part series on the tangible yet under-addressed impacts of corruption on security and the complex power dynamics at play.
This second guide goes deeper into a specific security threat: when states use corruption to gain power and influence over other states and even as a geopolitical tool.

Corruption and security
“Corruption plays a critical role in undermining stability, global governance and international law. We need to understand and acknowledge the connections and to act accordingly.”
Gretta Fenner (1975–2024) at the Munich Security Conference 2024 (paraphrased)
How does corruption threaten national and international security? Can viewing it through the lens of power offer deeper insights? And what might we achieve by framing corruption as a security concern?
This Quick Guide gives a short introduction to this complex issue as part of a two-part series on corruption, security and strategic corruption.

Sexual corruption
Sexual corruption is a serious and under-recognised form of both corruption and sexual abuse. A particularly harmful form of corruption, it is difficult to measure and prosecute, and can have devastating physical and psychological impacts on survivors/ victims.

Public-private partnerships for financial intelligence sharing
Financial intelligence is the staple food of investigations into corruption, money laundering and other financial crimes.
Much financial intelligence is held by private-sector institutions such as banks and other financial service providers. How does that get into the hands of law enforcement, where it can trigger or inform investigations? And how can we improve the system?
This quick guide gives a brief introduction to public-private partnerships or platforms for financial intelligence sharing. It sets out how they work in practice, and how they can improve the sharing of targeted, useful information between law enforcement and financial institutions.

Multi-agency asset recovery task forces
To effectively combat organised and financial crime, it is often necessary for countries to establish multi-agency asset recovery task forces. This quick guide examines their composition, the nature of cases they work on and how they can be set up. It also touches on the benefits of having such task forces in place and highlights success stories and lessons learnt from previous experience.

Corruption and human rights
Could anti-corruption benefit from a human rights perspective? How can the two communities work better together – and what are some risks and challenges? This quick guide gives a brief introduction to the ideas of the Basel Institute’s Vice-President, Professor Anne Peters, and some of our initial work at the intersection of corruption and human rights.