Another of my ten words in Arabic.

[randomness]

واسْطة (wasta). It's kind of close to 关系 (guanxi), and kind of close to блат (blat).

That these languages all have a word for a similar and overlapping concept is significant, I think.

Comments

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Not exactly, but those do seem the closest.

Corruption isn't as pervasive in English-speaking countries, is my thought.