A: I’ve, of all individuals, former Kazakhstani dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev to thank for sparking my curiosity in kleptocracy. Whereas residing in Kazakhstan, I had a firsthand have a look at how the ruling regime and its interior circle looted staggering sums from the populace in Kazakhstan — after which how Nazarbayev and his household, as an alternative of turning to conventional offshore havens in locations just like the Caribbean, as an alternative turned to democracies, and particularly to the US. It was a weird realization in that these dictators had been pouring their illicit wealth, not into small islands, and even locations like Switzerland, however had been as an alternative burrowing into locations like Delaware, Nevada, and Wyoming and that they had been apparently doing all of this completely legally.
Therefore, “American Kleptocracy” was born. It’s a full-length have a look at how the US led this so-called “race to the underside” to draw dictatorial {dollars}, and the sorts of sectors and insurance policies that made it occur — and simply how a lot injury it’s achieved to democracies around the globe.
My second guide — “Overseas Brokers,” due early subsequent 12 months from St. Martin’s Press, shall be one thing of a complement to the primary guide. It would dive into the world of overseas lobbying and check out how a broad swath of American industries — public relations, consultancies, legislation companies, and even suppose tanks and universities — have reworked into automobiles for dictatorships around the globe to launder their reputations and upend American and Western coverage within the course of. And it’ll have a look at how all of that intersects with trendy kleptocracy writ giant and the way all of this illicit wealth sloshing round dictatorships has begun infecting a few of America’s most outstanding companies and establishments.
