Russian Elites and Western Sanctions: A Political Economy Under Strain?

Please join us on Tuesday, January 29th for “Russian Elites and Western Sanctions: A Political Economy Under Strain?”, a talk with Nigel Gould-Davies, Mahidol University (Thailand) and Chatham House. This event is part of the Occasional Series, sponsored by the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia.

Western financial and legal systems provide essential protection for Russian elite assets and reputation. Sanctions threaten continued access to these services. If sanctions intensify, they may disrupt a set of bargains between the Russian state, oligarchs and Western interests that have helped stabilise Putin’s political economy. What choices face Russia’s elites, what power do they have to protect their interests, and what are the implications for Russia’s future and Western policy?

Dr. Nigel Gould-Davies is an Associate Fellow of Chatham House and teaches at Mahidol University in Thailand. He taught at Oxford University before joining the British Foreign Office, where his roles included head of the Economic Department in Moscow, Ambassador to Belarus, and project director in the Policy Planning Staff. From 2010-14 he was head of Policy and Corporate Affairs for BG Group in Central and Southeast Asia. His book “Tectonic Politics: Global Risk in an Age of Transformation” will be published by Brookings in 2019. He holds an M.Phil. from Oxford, and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University.