Countering Kleptocracy After Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: A Conversation with Jason Sharman

Power 3.0 | Authoritarian Resurgence, Democratic Resilience

Russia’s war in Ukraine highlighted the transnational impact of kleptocracy in financing and empowering autocratic regimes. Russian oligarchs living abroad were sanctioned and stepped down from the boards of influential Western institutions, and other measures were taken to choke off this transnational, supercharged form of corruption. In this episode of the Power 3.0 podcast, featured guest Jason Sharman discusses democracies’ remarkably unified early response, and asks what comes next: how kleptocrats might continue to evade sanctions and otherwise adapt, and the challenges of moving from “freezing” to “seizing” assets as an effective counter-kleptocracy measure. Jason Sharman is the Sir Patrick Sheehy professor of international relations in the department of politics and international studies at the University of Cambridge. John Glenn, senior director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies, and Melissa Aten, a senior program officer at the International Forum, cohost the conversation. The views expressed in this podcast represent the opinions and analysis of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for Democracy or its staff. Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com/Oleg Elkov