Opinion: Conflicts of the past year connected by corruption

A retrospective look at the conflicts dominating the headlines in 2014 presents a grim picture of escalating conflict and human suffering. Underneath the headlines is a common thread connecting the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Ukrainian protesters in the Maidan, and the Nigerian families still desperately seeking someone to #BringBackOurGirls. That common thread is corruption, Mary Beth Goodman, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, writes on The Mark News.