{"id":1389352,"date":"2026-05-03T10:04:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T07:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/corruption-in-the-defense-sector-interesting-examples-from-international-experience\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T04:51:59","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T01:51:59","slug":"corruption-in-the-defense-sector-interesting-examples-from-international-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/corruption-in-the-defense-sector-interesting-examples-from-international-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"War Profits and Dirty Deals: Inside Global Defense Corruption"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Source: Author&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/valerijcalijvaleriychaly\/posts\/pfbid0xND9noMLmVahRzh89oKbP3R1nDQZiabSjPD3jpT6ZnptomdWLBxF9AZYHe4WK1JBl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Facebook<\/a> page<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Discussion on corruption in a warring country: pro et contra<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>It is good that a broad discussion of the threats posed by corruption to Ukraine&#8217;s institutional stability during the war has begun. It is bad that it had to start like this, with the problems of the country&#8217;s leadership and those close to it, which tactically create risks and threats during the war and strategically strengthen the country and enable it to defeat the enemy.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Of course, both enemies and even some partners can exploit the weakening of the leaders and the possible excess information from the defense sector for their own benefit. But if nothing is done now, it will be even more dangerous.<\/p>\n<p>The experience of countries that have been at war for decades or have experienced large-scale conflicts shows that corruption in the defense sector poses a direct threat to the state&#8217;s survival.<\/p>\n<p>International experience also shows that corruption tends to increase during war due to the concentration of power, limited transparency, and the need for rapid decision-making. At the same time, such a period of crisis can become a catalyst for radical reforms that were slowed down in peacetime.<\/p>\n<p>Ukraine should have developed its own model for reducing corruption during the war long ago. It is never too late. Without this, victory can only be hoped for&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>What is interesting from international experience?<\/p>\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" >\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/mindichgate-and-memory-lapses-how-government-officials-avoided-answers-in-the-rada\/\">Mindichgate and memory lapses: how government officials avoided answers in the Rada<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">Croatia<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Zero tolerance for &#8220;their own&#8221;: The Croatian experience has shown that proximity to the country&#8217;s leadership, even veteran status, should not be an indulgence for corruption crimes.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 External incentive: The EU accession process was the main driver of reforms, as without real steps to combat corruption, the country could not join the European Union.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\"><strong>United States<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>The US experience during World War II is a classic example of how parliamentary oversight and civilian control can curb corruption even during periods of extreme military spending.<\/p>\n<p>The main instrument of this struggle was the Truman Committee (officially the Senate Special Committee to Study the National Defense Program).<\/p>\n<p>In 1941, Senator Harry Truman (future US president) initiated the creation of a committee to investigate reports of waste and abuse in the construction of military facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Main achievements of the committee:<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Cost savings: The committee is estimated to have saved the state about $10\u201315 billion (in current prices).<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Detection of substandard products: The supply of defective aircraft engines and substandard steel was exposed, saving the lives of thousands of American soldiers.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Antitrust: The committee exposed attempts by large corporations to artificially limit the production of strategic materials to keep prices high.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Control over &#8220;people for a dollar&#8221;: A conflict of interest was discovered among top managers of corporations who worked in the government for a nominal salary but continued to lobby for the interests of their companies.<\/p>\n\n<p>In addition to the committee, the US has implemented a number of institutional safeguards:<\/p>\n<p>1. War Production Board &#8211; a centralized body that regulated the allocation of resources and the issuance of military contracts, minimizing chaotic procurement that created the ground for rollbacks.<\/p>\n<p>2. False Claims Act: Although the law had been in effect since the Civil War, it was actively used during World War II to punish contractors who overcharged.<\/p>\n<p>3. Publicity and Transparency: The Truman Committee held over 430 public hearings and interviewed nearly 1,800 witnesses. All committee reports were unanimously approved by both parties, making it impossible to use political cover-ups against corrupt officials.<\/p>\n<p>Why did it work?<\/p>\n<p>The effectiveness of the struggle in the United States was based on the independence of control. The Truman Committee was not subordinate to the White House, allowing it to criticize even the Roosevelt administration for errors in defense planning.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">South Korea<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>South Korea&#8217;s history contains one of the most tragic examples of the consequences of military corruption, which became a lesson for the entire nation.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 National Defense Corps Tragedy (1950\u20131951): During the Korean War, tens of thousands of conscripts died not from bullets but from starvation and frostbite due to embezzlement by high-ranking officials. This led to the execution of five guilty officials and a radical overhaul of controls.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 KONEPS (Electronic Procurement): The Republic of Korea has created one of the world&#8217;s most advanced electronic bidding systems. This has significantly reduced kickbacks and opaque agreements in the public sector.<\/p>\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" >\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/everything-for-the-presidents-friends-how-the-era-of-poverty-ended\/\">From \u2018Era of Poverty\u2019 to Privilege? Scrutiny Grows Over Who Benefits<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt;\">State of Israel<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In Israel, the fight against corruption in the army is based not on a large number of civilian controllers but on strict internal ethics and criminal legislation.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Social contract: In Israeli society, corruption in the military is seen as a national disaster. Since almost everyone serves in the military (through the reserve system), any theft is seen as stealing from one&#8217;s own family.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 Heredity and elitism: military enterprises implement a &#8220;zero tolerance&#8221; policy towards bribery, as their survival depends on international contracts and the trust of partners.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 A weak, but understandable, point is transparency: despite its high efficiency, Transparency International notes that Israel&#8217;s defense sector remains quite closed to public scrutiny due to the secrecy of the military budget.<\/p>\n<p>These examples show that there is no ideal model, but there are effective mechanisms for systematically combating corruption in the defense sector, even during war.<\/p>\n<p>Corruption is a phenomenon that is inherent in many countries. What matters is the scale and its type. Moreover, it is not the only factor in corrosion that undermines the effectiveness of public administration.<\/p>\n<p>Fighting corrupt individuals is not the same as systematically combating corruption. Nevertheless, once the genie is out of the bottle, there&#8217;s no putting it back in.<\/p>\n<p>There must be a reaction. Prompt. Systematic. Not with words, but with actions!<\/p>\n<p>People, both at the front and in the rear, have a heightened demand for justice. Satisfying it is a necessary condition for the survival of the current government and the country as a whole.<\/p>\n<p>We are all in the same boat! And this boat must patch the holes and sail out of the stormy waves, and only the enemy ships will sink!<\/p>\n<p>Also, follow <strong>\u201cPryamyi\u201d<\/strong> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/prm_ua\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">X<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/+rtV4dxYu2_cyNjVi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Telegram<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Instagram.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 Materials published in the \u201cOPINIONS\u201d section reflect the opinion of the author of the publication, who bears full responsibility for the accuracy of the information.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 The editorial staff of prm.ua may not share the opinions expressed in the author&#8217;s material.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 The owner of the webpage in the \u201cOPINIONS\u201d section is the author of the publication.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Author&#8217;s Facebook page Discussion on corruption in a warring country: pro et contra It is good that a broad discussion of the threats posed by corruption to Ukraine&#8217;s institutional stability during the war has begun. It is bad that it had to start like this, with the problems of the country&#8217;s leadership and those [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":1389338,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76872,76893,76871],"class_list":["post-1389352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-feed","category-thoughts","category-news-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1389352"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389352\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1389544,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1389352\/revisions\/1389544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1389338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1389352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1389352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}