Why Do Some Armies 'Suck At War'

World map of the 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International, which measures "the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public officials and politicians". High numbers (yellow) indicate less perception of corruption, whereas lower numbers (red) indicate higher perception of corruption. Wikipedia

Leadership: Why So Many Armies Suck At War -- Strategy Page

It’s all about thieves in uniform and the politicians that tolerate them, It’s all about corruption, and in the 21 st century we have a much better idea of how much and where it is. International corruption surveys (especially the two decade old Transparency International project) shows the relative corruption in all the world’s nations. The Transparency International Corruption Perception Index first appeared in 1993 and is assembled by surveying local business people. This reveals a lot of the bad behavior that goes on among government bureaucrats as well as in business and the country in general. The Transparency International poll is a largely voluntary effort that is accurate enough to be used for professional risk management analysis (an essential tool for banks, exporters and potential investors). Corruption is measured on a 1 (most corrupt) to 100 (not corrupt) scale. The three most corrupt nations have a rating of 8 (Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia) and the least corrupt is 91 (New Zealand and Denmark). African nations are the most corrupt, followed by Middle Eastern ones. The Arab Spring uprising, partly in reaction to high levels of corruption has made corruption worse in Arab countries that underwent government change. In the last year Libya has gone from 21 to 15, Yemen from 18 to 15 and Iraq from 18 to 16. The Middle East averages 37 against the world average (for 177 countries) of 43. Egypt, which is still suffering unrest, is unchanged at 32. The least corrupt nations, at 91 are. The U.S. is 73, Canada is 81 (as is Australia) and Mexico 34. There are bright spots in the Middle East, with the UAE at 69, and Africa where Botswana is 64.

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My Comment: Throughout history an army has always been a reflection of what their political leaders want .... and they influence this direction by the generals and admirals that they appoint. Corruption has also been a part of our history .... and yes it does have an impact on the army that you can field.