Transparency International is a global network with a mission of change towards a world free of corruption. In this thought-provoking talk, TI's Founding Director Peter Eigen chronicles the experiences which led him from a directorship at the World Bank to the head of a movement to strengthen civil society by stamping out corruption. At first, the idea of reducing bribery and extortion seemed like swimming against an impossibly strong tide, but new incentives for good conduct have made the elimination of corruption a cornerstone in the international effort to promote global equity.

Even as a child growing up in Berlin, Peter Eigen was a natural leader. He entered law school without especially strong political convictions, but travels in Latin America exposed him to eye-opening contrasts between the elites and the oppressed. After that, he gravitated towards policy and politics in Washington, eventually entering the service of the World Bank. Eigen saw that technocratic approaches were most effective when combined with cultural and human concerns. He also learned that even the best plans faltered in countries where political expediencies overwhelmed good intentions. In Kenya especially, Eigen saw important projects fail due to kick backs and corruption, where selfish interests led to devastating social, economic and ecological consequences for the livelihoods of the local peoples.

In 1993, Eigen launched Transparency International (TI) as a global network of local chapters. Rather than seeking to punish individual offenders, TI focuses on process and transparency, finding innovative ways to ameliorate conflicts of interest, and promote good faith contracts. By now, world awareness has risen and TI's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a valuable measuring stick for tracking progress around the world.

While the corrosive nature of corruption is now more clearly acknowledged, Eigen explains that tackling the roots of the problem presents a prisoner's dilemma of sorts. Good actors who agree to stop bribery are potentially penalized when the corrupt cheaters continue to win contracts. Transparency International's biggest breakthroughs have come by finding common ground and providing ways for competitors to simultaneously agree to make positive changes without losing out.