Sarah Chayes Session Overview

SARAH CHAYES is internationally recognized for her innovative thinking on corruption and its implications. She has uncovered the unrecognized reality that severe and structured corruption can prompt international crises, such as religious extremism and violent insurrection. Her trajectory has led from covering the fall of the Taliban for National Public Radio to years of development work in Kandahar during a spiraling insurgency to service to the topmost levels of the U.S. military. As special assistant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, Chayes focused on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the countries swept up in the Arab Spring. Chayes has authored several books, including The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban; Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security, which won the 2016 L.A. Times Book Prize; and On Corruption in America – And What Is at Stake.