Malesky: How is Washington weaponizing anticorruption law?
How is Washington weaponizing anticorruption law?
In an essay published by Foreign Affairs on Feb. 26, 2026, Duke Center for International Development director Edmund Malesky and co-authors Lorenzo Crippa, University of Strathclyde, and Lucio Picci, University of Bologna, discuss their analysis of market responses to the Trump administration's suspension of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in Feb. 2025 and then the FCPA's resumption in June 2025 but under new enforcement guidelines that focus on cases affecting U.S. economic or security interests.
"Whereas stock prices of tainted U.S. companies—those currently or previously suspected of bribery—have continued to rise since February 2025, equivalently tainted foreign firms have lost value after the June guidance was released," the authors write. "Investors seem to anticipate that the relaxation of enforcement will not extend to foreign competitors. Instead, as Washington has signaled, the FCPA will be deployed as U.S. leverage in trade disputes, procurement battles, and geopolitical rivalries."
The authors warn the transformation of U.S. antibribery tools into economic weapons "threatens to undo the global system the United States helped establish to punish business corruption."
Read "How is Washington Weaponizing Anticorruption Law."
Edmund Malesky, professor of political economy and director of the Duke Center for International Development, is a specialist on Southeast Asia, particularly Vietnam. His research agenda lies at the intersection of comparative and international political economy, falling into three major categories: 1) Authoritarian political institutions and their consequences; 2) The political influence of foreign direct investment and multinational corporations; and 3) Political institutions, private business development, and formalization.