Global Governance and Grand Corruption: The International Politics and Policy of Looted Wealth

As International Relations scholars have been drawn to the study of global governance, their field of vision has come to overlap with the increasingly internationalised conduct of public policy. This lecture explores this dynamic in analysing an unprecedented new international moral and legal rule that forbids one state from hosting money stolen by the leaders of another state.

The aim is to counter grand corruption or kleptocracy, when leaders of poorer countries loot billions of pounds at the expense of their citizens, and transfer the money to rich host countries. Thanks to the new international rules, these host states now have a duty to block, trace, freeze and seize these illicit funds, and hand them back to the countries from which they were stolen. The lecture explains how this anti-kleptocracy regime came about, how well it is working, how it could work better, and the broader implications for the study of international politics and policy.

The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception in the atrium of the Alison Richard Building.

 

This talk is part of the All POLIS Department Seminars and Events series. If you have a question about this talk, please contact enquiries.

If you would like to attend please register (free) here.