Survey Shows Corruption Has Worsened in Conflict Areas

Transparency International's annual corruption index survey was released today

Where there is trouble, opportunity for corruption inevitably follows.

Some of the world's most tumultuous countries suffered setbacks this year in the fight against corruption, with civil war-torn Syria among the pack of nations increasingly at the mercy of bribe-takers and influence-peddlers, Transparency International reported Tuesday in its annual corruption survey.

Spain, Greece and Slovenia, where the turmoil has mostly been financial, also saw their good governance rankings slide in 2013.

Notable in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2013 was how little improvement was recorded in even the most open and law-abiding countries. Only two states -- Denmark and New Zealand -- scored in the top 10 percentiles on the 100-point index. The two countries at opposite ends of the world tied for first place with scores of 91, each up 1 point from 2012.