Enabling the Global Kleptocracy: How Britain Became a Butler for the World’s Worst

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shone a new light on the global kleptocracy, the movement of ill-gotten gains through legitimate financial networks. Perhaps, nowhere was this reckoning more acute or overdue than in the United Kingdom. The City of London’s storied financial houses became a destination of choice for Russia’s oligarchs, as did its real estate and art markets, educational institutions, and more, so much so that Great Britain’s capital earned the moniker “Londongrad”.

How London became a metaphorical butler to Russia’s oligarchs and other global kleptocrats is the subject of Oliver Bullough’s fascinating new book “Butler to the World”. On 16 June at 1000 he sits down, virtually, with Mike Rogers Center for Intelligence & Global Affairs Director, Joshua C. Huminski, to discuss his book, how London is responding to Russia’s invasion and cracking down on the kleptocracy, and whether the rhetoric will be met with sustained action. 

Speaker

Oliver Bullough is the author of the financial exposé Moneyland, which topped the Sunday Times bestseller list (UK), and two celebrated books about the former Soviet Union: The Last Man in Russia and Let Our Fame Be Great. His journalism appears regularly in The Guardian, The New York Times, and GQ. He lives in London.