Breaking the cycle of failure in combating corruption in Asian countries

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify the five mistakes made by political leaders in Asian countries in combating corruption. These mistakes constitute the cycle of failure which must be broken for Asian countries to succeed in fighting corruption.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on the comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of the anti-corruption measures adopted by various Asian countries.FindingsThe cycle of failure in combating corruption in Asian countries arises from their governments’ reliance on corrupt political leaders and the police, and multiple anti-corruption agencies as attack dogs or paper tigers.Originality/valueThis paper would be of interest to those policymakers, anti-corruption practitioners, and scholars, who are concerned with enhancing the effectiveness of anti-corruption strategies in their countries by breaking the cycle of failure.