THE ENABLERS
How the West Supports Kleptocrats and Corruption-Endangering Our Democracy
Published by Roman & Littlefield
“The Enablers” will be published on the eve of President Biden’s recently announced White House “Summit for Democracy” (December 9/10), where anti-corruption will be front and center. Frank Vogl’s forthcoming book starts with this quote:
“Fighting corruption is not just good governance. It is self-defense. It is patriotism, and it’s essential to the preservation of our democracy and our future.
President Joe Biden June 3, 2021, launching his National Security
Council’s anti-corruption strategy.
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Isabel Dos Santos, the daughter of Angola’s former dictator, had a personal fortune of more than $2 billion; 40% of Angolans live on less than $20 a month. And Vladimir Putin has stolen so much from Russia and its citizens, that he—not Bezos, Musk, or Gates—may be the richest person alive. As Frank Vogl shows in his deeply researched and damning new book, laundering the dirty cash of kleptocrats into safe investments could not happen without the help of Western bankers, lawyers, accountants, and realtors – these are the enablers.
Vogl, the co-founder and former vice-chairman of the leading global organization fighting corruption, Transparency International, and the chairman of another, the Partnership for Transparency Fund, dives into the global financial trenches, tracking the trillions of illicit dollars zipping around the world and propping up authoritarian regimes. He describes the critical roles being played by the enablers to serve kleptocrats who are in power in scores of countries, including Russia, China, Iran, Egypt, Hungary, and Nigeria. Staggering sums of government cash have been stolen and laundered on a rapidly rising scale into investments in the wealthiest Western nations with the help of firms like Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, BNP-Paribas, and HSBC, alongside leading law firms, auditors, real estate brokers based in the world’s major financial centers.
Vogl, who served for 20 years as the international communications advisor to the Institute of International Finance (IIF), the leading association of the world’s largest banks, and who also served as the communications advisor to the Group of 30 (the association of former finance ministers and central bank governors), draws on first-hand experiences to tell the stories that make the compelling argument that the leaders of our financial system are failing to work in the public interest – too many of their activities add wealth, and inevitably power, to Putin and his cronies in Russia, and to other leaders who strive to undermine Western democracy and challenge our security. Greed and short-term profit maximization dominate banking culture today with dangerous consequences.
Vogl develops stories from across the world to call for far-reaching reforms: from reforming banking and the sovereign bond markets, to securing new anti-corruption laws, and, most importantly, sharply increasing law enforcement. It is time, he argues that the chairmen and CEOs of major banks that are caught laundering billions of dollars are held to account. It is time for European Union authorities to stop treating the financial sector with kid gloves. And, to take another example, the excessive influence of the City of London’s leaders on preventing serious investigations and prosecutions of their entanglements with foreign kleptocratic clients must be exposed and countered – because our security is at risk.
If President Biden is to be credible in the eyes of the world in his strategy to strengthen democracy and contain authoritarianism, then he must not only increase U.S. leadership in fighting corruption abroad, but he must also act urgently to contain the enablers at home. This book explains why and how pragmatic reforms now, more than ever, can secure powerful bi-partisan political support.
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Waging War On Corruption
Inside The Movement Fighting The Abuse Of Power
Published by Roman & Littlefield
From the birth of pioneering anti-corruption organization Transparency International in 1993, to the Arab Spring in 2011, this is the story of people who risk their lives (and the many who support them) to combat government-business conspiracies to secure justice, accountability, transparency and integrity. It is the story of an African child denied an education because her parents cannot bribe a school teacher, and of hundreds of thousands of Egyptians who overcame their fears, encouraged by Twitter and Facebook, to demand an end to government abuse.
The new paper edition contains an new Introduction and Afterword, which highlight the continuing major challenges that corruption poses to humanity and security. It underscores that as citizens protest with mounting impact against corrupt regimes from Brazil to Ukraine to South Africa, so as Vogl stresses, "We are entering the era of anticorruption enforcement."
This is an insider’s account of the battles, the fighters, the villains and their victims. Now, as never before, from vast public rallies in India to “Occupy Wall Street” demonstrations, the fight against corruption is moving ahead. Major policy questions must still be resolved in the White House and far beyond – at stake is nothing less than our global security, the reduction of poverty, the stability of our economic and financial systems, and the cause of freedom and democracy.
“Corruption is an insidious plague that has a wide range of corrosive effects on societies. It undermines democracy and the rule of law, leads to violations of human rights, distorts markets, erodes the quality of life and allows organized crime, terrorism and other threats to human security to flourish.” – Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan
“A cancer is eating away at the vitals of Western society and that cancer is corruption.” – The late US Senator Frank Church of Idaho
“Corruption humiliates the poor who must bribe small officials for minimal services; corruption bankrupts the honest trader; corruption empowers unscrupulous captains of commerce and their partners, dishonest politicians; corruption spreads like a cancer to kill all that is decent in society.” – Nobel Peace Prize winner and former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez
Says author Frank Vogl: “The purpose of this book is to promote the issue of anticorruption to the very forefront of global public debate. This book is to inform a broad public about the constructive and successful actions being taken to fight the curse of corruption and to highlight the brilliantly courageous people who are waging war on corruption now.”
MUCH MORE ABOUT THE ENABLERS
======================News/Events==================
KEEN ON — Frank Vogl on the American Bankers and Politicians Enabling Kleptocrats Around the World. In Conversation with Andrew Keen on Keen On - January 25, 2023.
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The Grave Risks of Western Complicity With Corrupt Arab Autocrats
DAWN - Democracy for the Arab World Now - Democracy in Exile - May 5, 2022
If President Biden is to be credible in the eyes of the world in his strategy to strengthen democracy and contain authoritarianism, then he must not only increase U.S. leadership in fighting corruption abroad, but he must also act urgently to contain the enablers at home.
This book explains why and how pragmatic reforms now, more than ever, can secure powerful bi-partisan political support.
Frank Vogl
frankvogl@gmail.com
"The new edition contains a new Introduction and Afterword - as Vogl argues that we are now entering a "New era of anticorruption enforcement."
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