Corruption is one of the biggest global issues, ahead of extreme poverty, unemployment, the rising cost of food and energy, climate change, and terrorism. It is thought to be one of the principal causes of poverty around the globe. Its significance in the contemporary world cannot be undervalued.

In this Very Short Introduction, Leslie Holmes looks the history of corruption across the millennia and considers why the international community has only highlighted it as a problem in the past two decades. Holmes explores the phenomenon from several different perspectives, from the cultural differences affecting how corruption is defined, its impact, its various causes, and the possible remedies. Providing evidence of corruption and considering ways to address it around the world, this is an important introduction to a significant and serious global issue.

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腐败是最大的全球问题之一，排在极端贫困、失业、食品和能源成本上升、气候变化和恐怖主义之前。它被认为是全球贫困的主要原因之一。它在当代世界的重要性是不可低估的。

在这本《非常简短的介绍》中，莱斯利-霍姆斯回顾了几千年来腐败的历史，并考虑了为什么国际社会只是在过去20年才将其作为一个问题来强调。霍姆斯从几个不同的角度探讨了这一现象，包括影响如何定义腐败的文化差异、其影响、其各种原因以及可能的补救措施。本书提供了腐败的证据，并考虑了世界各地解决腐败的方法，是对一个重要而严重的全球问题的重要介绍。

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