Liberia, Oct. 14 -- Senator Amara Konneh's warning in Washington that Liberia stands at its "most dangerous point since the war and Ebola" should alarm us at home as much as it alarmed his hosts abroad. Opaque mining deals and a surging cocaine trade are buying influence inside our institutions, one official at a time. The reforms he proposes are overdue. But they will mean nothing unless the Legislature passes them in Monrovia, and unless our partners in Washington back them with targeted support rather than speeches.

FOR TWO DECADES, Liberia has told the world a story of recovery: from war to peace, from Ebola to resilience, from strongman rule to two peaceful transfers of power. That story is true, and it was hard-won. But a nation ca...