Risks of Overstressing Corruption: The Case of Ukraine

Abstract

This paper has as its reference point the issue of corruption in Ukraine, which has recently once again become the subject of attention due to reports that it may be an important factor when it comes to the recalcitrance of some of Ukraine’s Western partners andallies with regard to offering military support for the country’s war effort against Russia. The main objective is to demonstrate how the West’s tendency to overstress this problem, for which the paper offers proof, that could manifest itself in it applying undue pressure on the Ukrainian authorities, entails risks and may have a number of undesirable repercussions due to 1) providing fuel to Russian disinformation campaigns and negatively affecting the perceptions of Ukraine among Western citizens, 2) hampering the Ukrainian military campaign and its appraisal abroad, 3) indirectly contributing to changing the nature of Ukrainian nationalism by making it more exclusionary.

JEL: F5, D73, F51