Welcome to Kleptocracy.

A new Substack from Hudson Institute on how corruption is reshaping global politics and security.

Sep 09, 2021

Welcome to the first edition of Kleptocracy, a free weekly Substack from Hudson Institute’s Kleptocracy Initiative (KI) exploring how transnational corruption is reshaping global politics and security.

Compiled by Hudson researchers Paul Massaro, Casey Michel and Nate Sibley, Kleptocracy will not only feature the latest KI content but other new research and expert insights, too. And as the successor to our popular Kleptocracy Watch newsletter, Kleptocracy will deliver the week’s most important news and developments from around the world straight to your inbox.

Make sure to follow KI on Twitter and subscribe to our weekly podcast, Making a Killing. This week we spoke with former senior State Department official Dr. David Asher about how 9/11 reshaped America’s fight against illicit financial networks.

And at 3:00 PM (ET) today, join KI’s Marshall Billingslea and Nate Sibley live in conversation with Mauricio Claver-Carone, president of the Inter-American Development Bank, about how corruption has affected Latin America and the Caribbean’s Covid-19 response.

Best,

Paul, Casey and Nate

New from KI

America enabled Afghanistan’s corruption for years. The Taliban knew it. | Casey Michel, NBC Think

Time and again, the US seemed to be prioritizing security over efforts to combat kleptocracy. But in the end, it got neither.

Biden might stop a sanctions revolution | Casey Michel and Paul Massaro, Foreign Policy

As the US government reviews its use of sanctions, it has a chance to double down on the ones that are actually effective.

Making a Killing, episode 20: David Asher on 9/11 and US economic statecraft

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the US transformed its capacity to wage financial warfare against terrorists, kleptocrats and other dangerous adversaries. Hudson senior fellow David Asher, who played a leading role in that effort, joins Nate and Casey to discuss lessons for contemporary efforts against transnational corruption.