Dictators Without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia
The sanctions on the Russian economy and associates of Vladimir Putin after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine brought the property owned in Europe by autocratic elites and their involvement in the western financial system to the attention of a large audience. Already in 2018, Dictators Without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia highlighted how western financial and legal systems enable growing authoritarianism in Eurasia. Using the ruling elites of Central Asia as case studies, Cooley and Heathershaw explain how autocrats use the international financial and legal system to build and operate patrimonial regimes, secure the rents they yield and eliminate opposition to their rule, showing that Central Asia is by no means a mere spectator in international relations. Their book serves as a reminder that western governments and companies are complicit in crimes and human rights abuses committed by autocratic states, often feigning ignorance in pursuit of more concrete policy or economic goals when it comes to abuse of the international order they champion. It is informative as to the dynamics of global corruption while illuminating why the potency of western value-based leadership is rapidly decreasing on the global stage.
Dictators Without Borders is divided into three parts. The first of which lays out how exactly Central Asian regimes are connected internationally. True to its title, the book does not consider wider economic, political, or social international relations, but focusses on power and money of the ruling class. These two seldom come alone in authoritarian systems where the boundary between politics and economics is blurry. In Central Asia, the authors argue, globalization has helped to consolidate authoritarianism rather than build democracy, enabled by access to the international financial and legal system. A brief comparison between the elite and the international dimension of the state and its economy would have helped the argument that Central Asian elites are far more active internationally than one might expect.
The second part of the book contains case studies, one for each country in Central Asia except Turkmenistan, guided by the endeavour to illustrate the global links introduced previously. These chapters do not offer any methodological innovation, but they do cover their respective stories in great detail. The Kazakh case shows how the struggle between the government and the opposition, in the form of former government insiders, was internationalized. The Tajik case illustrates how the international dimension has helped current president Rachmon to consolidate power after a civil war. The chapter on Uzbekistan highlights how international developments involving the country’s elite and its global lifestyle and business relations influence domestic politics in an otherwise very isolated state.1 Lastly, the Kyrgyz case demonstrates how its rulers managed to exploit the country’s economy and turn the state into an active part of the international financial system characterised by financial, but not political and economic liberalisation. While it is understandable that a chapter on Turkmenistan is lacking, considering the difficulty of gaining information about the country, this would have provided the most convincing evidence for the argument that even the most isolated polities are involved in international relations.
Tools commonly discussed in these chapters are offshore financial vehicles, lobbying, international court cases and the use of international organizations such as Interpol. The book highlights very well which benefits each of those offer to dictators.
The third part of the book constitutes a change by introducing a model of the repression tactics Central Asian autocracies use abroad in combination with a database of political exiles from the countries under investigation. Additionally, it introduces some forward-looking elements such as a warning that new projects fostering globalisation in the region such as China’s Belt and Road Initiative will only end up bolstering authoritarianism. The last chapter suggests numerous policy recommendations. While these come down to the need for more transparency and enforcement of the existing international rules, the suggestions on how to improve transparency show great detail and are based on areas identified as problems in the book. These recommendations are directed towards western governments. Even if one does not share the distribution of blame assigned in this book, it seems sensible to advise policymakers you have access to, maximising the potential impact of your advice.
Cooley and Heathershaw do not innovate much, but their book is comprehensive and contributes to the literature on the resurgent and pressing issue of global financial crime and corruption in an understudied region with consequences for European policymakers. It acknowledges the connection between domestic and international politics in practice and makes a convincing case to account for that when developing theories. It is by no means a purely academic exercise and incorporates insights from journalists and practitioners to address the problems faced by academic inquiry. It is successful in linking the seemingly remote to something familiar through an abundance of case studies. The mostly non-academic language and frequent illustrations allow for interested non-academics with a bit of time on their hands to enjoy this book. Still, it takes some commitment to understand it, because the cases are rich in detail and some terms will be confusing for those that just want some background behind current news headlines. Dictators Without Borders is well suited for academics interested in the workings of authoritarian states and the region of Central Asia.
Dictators Without Borders: Power and Money in Central Asia, by Alexander Cooley & John Heathershaw, New Haven & London, Yale University Press, 2018, 245 pp., $20, ISBN 9780300243192
