Book Manuscript

Local Control and Worldwide Access:
How Russian Elites Use the Global Financial System to Defend Their Wealth

By the start of Vladimir Putin’s fourth term in office in 2016, Russia was more integrated into the global financial system than at any point in the previous one hundred years. How did the Russian economy, dominated by the Kremlin and deeply rife with corruption, become so globalized? This book demonstrates that Russia’s integration into the global financial system has been deeply entangled with the bare-knuckled struggle for property control. Since the start of the country’s economic transition from state socialism, financial integration has allowed local elites to raise capital from foreign investors, and to legitimize and defend their wealth using Western institutions without making improvements in Russia’s corrupt business environment. Local Control and Worldwide Access delivers a somber lesson for the advocates of integrating emerging markets into the globalized financial system. Financial internationalization without strong local rule of law protections, only further entrenches oligarchic capitalism and enables authoritarian rule.
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Published Work

2018. "Weak States and Uneven Pluralism: Lessons from Mali and Kyrgyzstan"  Democratization  [w/ Jaimie Bleck]

2017. “Conflict and Violence in Kyrgyzstan.” Case Study for the UN-World Bank Flagship Study, “Pathways for Peace: Inclusive Approaches to Preventing Violent Conflict,” World Bank, Washington, DC.

2016. “Reflecting on Alternative Explanations and Legacies of State Socialism” (Review symposium of Kelly M. McMann’s Corruption as a Last Resort). Central Asian Affairs, 3: 193-96.

2014. Review of Capital, Coercion, and Postcommunist States by Gerald M. Easter Europe-Asia Studies 66-4

2013. "The Dirty Truth About Russia's 'Dirty' Money."  The Moscow Times # 5231.

2008. "Generational Differences in Russian Attitudes towards Democracy and the Economy." Europe-Asia Studies 8, 1345-69. [w/ Jeffrey Hahn]

Articles in Progress

“Before the Interests Are Invested: Disputes Over Asset Control and Equity Market Restrictions in Russia.” (under review)

“Authoritarian Welfare State, Regime Stability, and the 2018 Pension Reform in Russia.” (under review)


 “Has Financial Globalization Contributed to Authoritarian Retrenchment in Russia and China?” (with Stephen Hess) (in draft)

“Uneven Pluralism in the Low-Income World.” (with Jaimie Bleck and David Muchlinski) (in draft)











Please contact me for the most recent versions of these  papers.