Researching Africa and the offshore world

Oliveira, Ricardo Soares de

doi:10.1017/s0022278x22000210

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…In this paper, we build upon our identification of these increasingly influential ‘Transnational Uncivil Society Networks’ (TUSNs) to analyse the shifts currently underway in the ecology of globalization. Advancing from findings from our research on Eurasia and Africa (Cooley and Heathershaw, 2017; Soares de Oliveira, 2015, 2022), we argue that these strategies of reputation-laundering are neither illicit nor marginal, but very much a product of the actors, institutions and markets generated by the liberal international order. We also explore TUSNs empirically in their Eurasian and African forms, noting regional variations in common themes of global networking and reputation-laundering.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Transnational uncivil society networks: kleptocracy’s global fightback against liberal activism

Cooley

Heathershaw

Oliveira

2023

European Journal of International Relations

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What is the global social context for the insertion of kleptocratic elites into the putatively liberal international order? Drawing on cases from our work on Eurasia and Africa, we sketch a concept of ‘transnational uncivil society’, which we contrast to ‘transnational activist networks’. While the latter denotes the liberalizing practices of global civil society, the former suggests a specific series of clientelistic relations across borders, which open space for uncivil elites. This distinction animates a growing line of conflict in global politics. These kleptocrats eject liberal activists from their own territories and create new spaces to whitewash their own reputations and build their own transnational networks. To do so, they hire political consultants and reputation managers, engage in public philanthropy and forge new relationships with major global institutions. We show how these strategies of reputation-laundering are neither illicit nor marginal, but very much a product of the actors, institutions and markets generated by the liberal international order. We compare and contrast the scope and purpose of civil and uncivil society networks, we explore the increasing globalization of Eurasian and African elites as a concerted strategy to distance themselves from associations with their political oppression and kleptocracy in their home countries, and recast themselves as productive and respected cosmopolitans.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Transnational uncivil society networks: kleptocracy’s global fightback against liberal activism

Cooley

Heathershaw

Oliveira

2023

European Journal of International Relations

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“…The framework for taxing the profits of international business has been in place for 100 years. Decolonisation was accompanied by the movement of wealth and assets offshore, and former colonial powers strategically supported dependent states to set up low or zero tax regimes with little regulation for non-residents, both companies and individuals [82,83]. During the mid-twentieth century, efforts by the United Nations to work on reforming international tax and transnational corporations faltered, and the forum shifted to less inclusive spaces, primarily the OECD [84].…”

Section: The Way Forward Internationalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Financing child rights in Malawi

Etter-Phoya,

Manthalu,

Kalizinje

et al. 2023

BMC Public Health

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Background Nearly all countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and, therefore, support children having access to their rights. However, only a small minority of children worldwide have access to their environmental, economic, and social rights. The most recent global effort to address these deficits came in 2015, when the United Nations General Assembly agreed to a plan for a fairer and more sustainable future by 2030 and outlined the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One remediable cause is the lack of revenue in many countries, which affects all SDGs. However, illicit financial flows from low-income to high-income countries, including international tax abuse, continue unabated. Methods Using the most recent estimates of tax abuse perpetuated by multinational companies and tax evasion through offshore wealth, and precise econometric modelling, we illustrate the potential regarding child rights (or progress towards the SDGs) if there was an increase in revenue equivalent to tax abuse in Malawi, a low-income country particularly vulnerable to climate change. The Government Revenue and Development Estimations model provides realistic estimates of government revenue changes in developmental outcomes. Using panel data on government revenue per capita, it models the impact of increased revenue on governance and SDG progress. Results If cross-border tax abuse and tax evasion were curtailed, the equivalent increase in government revenue in one country, Malawi, would be associated with 12,000 and 20,000 people having access to basic water and sanitation respectively each year. Each year, an additional 5000 children would attend school, 150 additional children would survive, and 10 mothers would survive childbirth. Conclusions More children would access their economic and social rights if actions were taken to close the gap in global governance regarding taxation. We discuss the responsibility of duty bearers, the need for a global body to arbitrate and monitor international tax matters, and how the Government of Malawi could take further domestic action to mitigate the gaps in global governance and protect itself against illicit financial flows, including tax abuse.

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“…The bank's collapse was precipitated by a massive money laundering scandal that obviously implicated its largest depositor, Obiang, and publicly exposed his family's network of assets in the U.S. It was widely reported that Obiang's account held up to $700 million, deposited in many instances in suitcases of 100$ bills (U.S. Congress, 2004, p. 165;Oliveira, 2022).…”

Section: Corporate and Soft Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Teodorín Situation (Part II)

Martino

2023

internationalrelation

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The essay is divided and published into two parts: each separately assesses the main recent trends in the national and international politics of Equatorial Guinea — spanning roughly between the Covid19 crisis and May 2023. Part II examines the so far unfounded claims regarding the Chinese Navy’s plan to build its first Atlantic base in Equatorial Guinea, which has been widely publicized by the U.S. foreign policy establishment. Moreover, this piece delves into the origins and ongoing developments of international legal disputes between France and Equatorial Guinea, specifically concerning the prosecution of Teodorín for corruption in a Paris court. Part I profiled the current vice president, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, widely known by his moniker Teodorín. The resolution of and tensions within both the U.S.-China and French geopolitical and international dimensions provide the main global frames for Teodorín’s succession, which is practically set in stone, and quite imminent. The combined introduction in part I and in the conclusion in part II outlines the recent shifts across the domestic political, international geopolitical, and economic domains that have conditioned Teodorín’s active and seemingly inevitable rise to the presidency of Equatorial Guinea.

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Researching Africa and the offshore world

Cited by 9 publications

References 87 publications

Transnational uncivil society networks: kleptocracy’s global fightback against liberal activism

Transnational uncivil society networks: kleptocracy’s global fightback against liberal activism

Financing child rights in Malawi

Teodorín Situation (Part II)

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