Authoritarian regimes like Russia and China use malign finance—the funding of foreign political parties, candidates, campaigns, well-connected elites, or politically influential groups, often through non-transparent structures designed to obfuscate ties to a nation state or its proxies—to interfere in democracies. Find ASD’s work on malign finance and the threat it poses to democracy on this page.
Civil Society in Ukraine’s Restoration: A Guide to CSOs Mobilizing for a Marshall Plan
Executive Summary Ukraine has one of the most vibrant civil societies in the world. In the decade since it launched and led the Revolution of Dignity, Ukrainian civil society has held successive governments’ feet to the fire while at the same time [...]
Josh Rudolph in MSNBC: Yevgeny Prigozhin Embodies the Rot Putin Wants to Force Back on Ukraine
While corruption has undermined Russia's war effort, anti-corruption efforts have made Ukraine more resilient. The abortive rebellion by Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin against Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, has only rein [...]
West Supports Ukraine Anti-Corruption Efforts at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London
Thanks to the European Union, this week’s Ukraine Recovery Conference in London will prove to be the most significant international event of the year to rally support for a thriving Ukraine. Indeed, the EU’s showing was so robust that it signals Ukr [...]
Josh Rudolph on Inside Sources: Rebuilding Ukraine Requires Winning on the Anti-Corruption Front
World leaders, including US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, are gathered in London today to talk about rebuilding Ukraine. They have already pledged billions of dollars in aid to help rebuild the country. Josh Rudolph from the Alliance for Sec [...]
Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Front
Executive Summary Remarkably, while fighting for their lives against Russian invasion, Ukrainians continue to wage their long internal battle against oligarchy and corruption. Ukraine is midway through this generational struggle, which began on th [...]
Josh Rudolph on How to Build Back Ukraine on the Power Vertical
Most eyes are on the fighting in the Donbas as Ukraine’s counteroffensive appears to get under way. But far from the front lines, a vital discussion is taking place in Western capitals: What will it take to rebuild Ukraine when the war is finally ov [...]
Autocrats Within
Executive Summary The greatest threats facing the two most consequential elections in and around Europe in 2023—Turkey in May and Poland in the fall—come from autocratic corruption within these two backsliding democracies. Both these countries are [...]
Accountability and Transparency in Ukrainian Recovery and Reconstruction
The scale of Russia’s devastation and destruction in Ukraine will eventually have to be matched by a recovery and reconstruction process equal to the Marshall Plan. To prevent the massive flow of financial assistance from leaking into corruption and [...]
Takeaway from Berlin Ukraine Recovery Conference: Donor Coordination Is Coming But Not Here Yet
Expectations were not high going into Tuesday’s conference in Berlin convened by the German Presidency of the G7 and the European Commission on Ukrainian recovery and reconstruction. In one respect, those low expectations were met: The conference fa [...]
Ukrainian Recovery Funding Must Be Tied to Anti-Corruption
Given how valiantly Ukrainians are defending the front lines of the free world, a morally and politically difficult job will fall to the leaders of the United States and the European Union: They will have to insist on sending Ukraine hundreds of bil [...]
ASD at GMF Experts React to Biden’s National Security Strategy
Yesterday, the Biden administration released its National Security Strategy, which focuses on the competition between democracy and autocracy, lays out threats coming from Russia and China, and notes that the US must both strengthen democracy at hom [...]
Bryce Barros Breaks Down the Geostrategic Implications of Secondary Sanctions with the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents
This educational program, developed by The Association of Foreign Press Correspondents (AFPC-USA) in partnership with the Hinrich Foundation, provided foreign correspondents with the opportunity to learn from four well-known experts and gain a deepe [...]