415. Casey Michel - Is Putin Retooling His Regime to Support ’Eternal Warfare’ & Confrontation with West?

“A toxic flood of dark money has given billionaires and special interests a powerful way to rig the system secretly in their favour…” These are the words of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, ahead of a debate in the US Congress around the Spending in Elections (DISCLOSE) Act. But this phrase could equally be applied to the UK, where Russian Oligarchs and dark money interests have been able to cleanse their ill-gotten gains for decades through the London financial laundromat. Londongrad is the phrase coined to describe the high presence of Russians in the United Kingdom, especially in reference to Russian money in London, permeating its service sector and securing political influence. ---------- Casey Michel is head of the Combating Kleptocracy Program at the Human Rights Foundation, focusing on how dictators and autocrats use illicit finance and dirty money to remain in power. He’s the author of AMERICAN KLEPTOCRACY, on America's transformation into an offshore haven. His new book, FOREIGN AGENTS, will examine the explosion of the foreign lobbying industry in Washington, and how that industry has helped entrench dictatorships and upend American foreign policy. FOREIGN AGENTS will be published in 2024. ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- LINKS: http://www.caseymichel.com/ https://x.com/cjcmichel https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseymichel/ https://www.rusi.org/people/michel https://www.hudson.org/experts/1381-casey-michel ---------- BOOKS: https://read.macmillan.com/lp/american-kleptocracy/ American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World's Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History (2021) Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy Around the World (2024) ---------- ARTICLES: https://foreignpolicy.com/author/casey-michel/ https://www.theatlantic.com/author/casey-michel/ FOREIGN POLICY How Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Became Putin’s Spiritual Guru April 7, 2024 Russia’s Opposition Needs More Than One Savior March 1, 2024 Russia’s Crimean Red Line Has Been Erased October 4, 2023 How to Stop Former Western Leaders From Becoming Paid Shills for Autocrats February 15, 2022 Kazakhstan’s Border With Russia Is Suddenly an Open Question Again January 6, 2022 How Delaware Became the World’s Biggest Offshore Haven November 19, 2021 The Fatal Flaw in the West’s Fight Against Autocracy October 6, 2021 America’s Money Lost the Afghan War September 13, 2021 Biden Might Stop a Sanctions Revolution August 24, 2021 Oligarchs’ Favorite U.S. Visa Might Not Last July 16, 2021 THE ATLANTIC We’ve Never Seen Anything Like the Menendez Indictment - The case against the New Jersey senator has the potential to reshape how America deals with foreign agents. Casey Michel - October 26, 2023 Make Russia Pay - The West has already frozen some $300 billion in Russian assets. Here’s the case for seizing them. Casey Michel - May 28, 2023 Decolonize Russia - To avoid more senseless bloodshed, the Kremlin must lose what empire it still retains. Casey Michel - May 27, 2022 How the West Undermines Its Own Sanctions - The Western sanctions in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have been far broader than many experts anticipated. But there’s a catch. Casey Michel - March 9, 2022 The United States of Dirty Money - How landlocked South Dakota became one of the world’s hottest destinations for offshore funds. Casey Michel - October 5, 2021 ----------