A child walks past Mongolians protesting corruption in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, March 31, 2017 (AP photo by Ganbat Namjilsangarav).

Mongolia has been rocked in recent months by a series of corruption scandals that have prompted large-scale demonstrations in the capital, Ulaanbaatar. The government of Prime Minister Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh has been paralyzed by revelations that senior government officials, including members of his Cabinet, misused funds that were intended to assist small and medium-sized enterprises. In an interview with WPR, Morris Rossabi, a professor of East Asian history at Columbia University, explains why corruption is so widespread in Mongolia and why the current wave of scandals comes at a particularly bad time for its economy. World Politics Review: Why is corruption […]

Salvadoran Attorney General Douglas Melendez at a joint press conference in Guatemala City, Feb. 8, 2017 (AP photo by Moises Castillo).

El Salvador’s legislature last month declined to reappoint Attorney General Douglas Melendez for a second term. The move is widely viewed as retaliation for Melendez’s anti-corruption crusade, which ensnared a number of high-profile Salvadoran political figures, including his predecessor as attorney general and several former presidents. In an interview with WPR, Eric Olson, a Latin America specialist at the Seattle International Foundation, discusses Melendez’s tenure as attorney general and the political impact of El Salvador’s “endemic” corruption, including on next month’s presidential election. World Politics Review: How pervasive is corruption in El Salvador, and what are its political ramifications? Eric […]