Kleptocracy and National Security

Kelly McFarland and Alistair Somerville via American Purpose

With all eyes on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there is another threat from the Kremlin: “weaponized kleptocracy.” It has become a key national security problem for the United States, and President Vladimir Putin’s war means our leaders are paying attention.

Confronting corruption lies at the heart of the Biden administration’s agenda for democratic renewal. The White House issued a National Security Study Memorandum on the topic in June of last year, then released a longer Strategy on Countering Corruption just before the Summit for Democracy in December. Some have compared it to George Kennan’s 1946 “Long Telegram,” which laid out his strategy for the containment of the Soviet Union. Beyond aspiration, however, the administration needs a long-term plan to push back against corruption. U.S. diplomats will be key implementers of this effort.

For analytical purposes, it can be useful to divide corruption into several forms-illegal acts versus ethically questionable ones, for instance, or petty, grand, and political. However, in the case of the transnational kleptocratic networks that the Biden administration wants to tackle, the same elites often benefit from all types. The term “kleptocracy”-rule by thieves-focuses not on individual acts but on corrupt networks that corrode institutions, the rule of law, and democracy itself. Authoritarian leaders like Putin have “weaponized” kleptocracy and exported it around the world. To confront this corruption successfully, democracies must tackle all levels of the phenomenon.

Read the rest at https://www.americanpurpose.com, published March 11, 2022.