British PM David Cameron had a little chat with Queen Elizabeth. Boasting — as people will do with royalty — about his successes, Cameron couldn’t help but mention that attendees at his anti-corruption summit will include Afghanistan and Nigeria. “Possibly,” Cameron told the Queen, “two of the most corrupt countries in the world.”
Cameron is getting media attention for what some see as his lack of discretion in calling out those two countries. But that’s just the countries needed at an anti-corruption summit , no? — the corrupt countries? And despite real promise of changes afoot in Nigeria and Afghanistan to quell corruption, Cameron hardly broke news to the Queen. At Transparency International, Afghanistan is listed No. 166 — above only Somalia and North Korea — and the 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index. Afterward Cameron praised Nigeria and Afghanistan for their work — their “remarkable steps forward” — against corruption.
