The United States of Oligarchy: How America’s Wealthiest Ally With Dictators, Weaken the U.S., and Destroy Democracy

For years, a small group of billionaires has amassed increasing power, steering American politics for their own benefit. These oligarchs are not working alone. From China to Russia to Saudi Arabia and beyond, many of these men have cultivated alliances with America’s most notorious adversaries, opening the doors for autocrats around the world to sink their teeth into the U.S. Placing profit over patriotism, they have transformed into vectors of influence for some of the world’s most repulsive dictatorships, all of whom are trying to create a world dominated by imperialism and tyranny. Connecting everything from the devastation in Ukraine to destruction in Gaza to destabilization in Greenland, these oligarchs have transformed American policy and American politics into their own private fiefdoms, regardless of what Americans actually want. 

Join us for an evening with Casey Michel, author, journalist, and Director of the Combating Kleptocracy Program with the Human Rights Foundation. He is the author of American Kleptocracy, named by The Economist as one of the “best books to read to understand financial crime.” His writing on kleptocracy, illicit finance, dark money, foreign interference has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Atlantic, and more.  His second book, Foreign Agents, is about the rise and devastating impact of the U.S.’s foreign lobbying industry and was described by The Economist as “an eye-opening depiction of an industry that has largely defied efforts to keep it in check” as well as one of the “biggest foreign-policy book releases of 2024″ by Foreign Policy Magazine.

MODERATION: Jannis Brühl, one of Germany’s leading digital journalists. He heads the digital and finance team at the Süddeutsche Zeitung. He studied political science and American studies in Erlangen and Portland, Oregon. In New York City, he was an Arthur F. Burns Fellow in the newsroom of the investigative journalism platform ProPublica. He works as a moderator and speaker and has been reporting for the SZ for more than ten years on Big Tech, focusing primarily on the disruptions coming out of Silicon Valley and their impact on German society.

There will be a networking drinks reception for all after the event. Books will be available for purchase and signing.

Photo Casey Michel ©Versha Sharma