KATHMANDU, Jan 18: Former international journalist and a senior fellow at Carnegie's Democracy and Rule of Law Program, Sarah Chayes, discussed her award-winning book 'Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security' at an event in the capital on Wednesday. 

Speaking at the program, Chayes said that corruption is the work of sophisticated and successful network of criminals. She further said that mapping the network can be instrumental in checking corruption.  

The program, which was jointly organized by The Asia Foundation and Niti Foundation, was followed by a panel discussion. Panelists included American Ambassador to Nepal Alaina Teplitz, Australian Ambassador to Nepal Peter Budd and economics commentator Sujeev Shakya, and sociopolitical commentator Siera Tamang. 

During the panel discussion, Chayes discussed Nepal's ongoing transitional challenges and opportunities with the panelists. They stressed on the need to treat corruption as an existential threat to governance reform, rule of law, public security, and equitable economic growth.  

Chayes was associated with the National Public Radio earlier where she had covered the fall of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan and subsequent state-building efforts over a decade in the country. Before that, she was a Paris correspondent for the radio. Her book, Thieves of State, was the winner of 2016 Los Angeles Times Book Prize.   

 
• corruption
 
• an
 
• existential
 
• threat
 
• governance
 
• reform