United States of Oligarchy - by Casey Michel (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A staggering examination of how America's wealthiest infiltrated the government and allied with dictators, transforming the U.S. from democracy to oligarchy.

From the Rockefellers to the Vanderbilts, the world's richest families have for centuries built their fortunes on American soil, serving as capitalistic success stories who grew their wealth among free markets and democratic protections. Now, that balance has shifted. Rather than the moguls and magnates of previous generations, the wealthiest individuals of the 21st century are oligarchs unto themselves - and owe much of their wealth to the most anti-democratic forces around the world.

There is Elon Musk, who has flung the doors of financing and influence open to dictators from Russia to China; Jared Kushner, who has brought in billions from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates while opening up unprecedented leverage for dictatorships; and a range of new techno-authoritarians trying to create a post-American future. And there are even more who have shunned the public spotlight, transforming entire industries into play-things for dictatorships in secret - all while the Trump administration sells American policy to the highest bidders across the globe, from Qatar to Turkey to Vietnam.

In United States of Oligarchy, Casey Michel illuminates a story decades in the making, from the earliest efforts to corral and combat American oligarchs, to the new crop of oligarchs dominating American democracy and making the world safe for dictatorship - all for their own benefit.

The oligarchs have risen and are attempting to reign. The only question remaining is whether or not it's too late to stop them.

Review Quotes

"After years of studying how foreign oligarchs have manipulated American democracy for profit and power, Casey Michel turns a cold eye on America's new oligarchs...Carefully researched and brilliantly scathing, a searing indictment of the monstrous selfishness and nihilism of this sector of America's ruling class."
--Katherine Stewart, New York Times bestselling author of Money, Lies, and God

"Oligarchy vs. democracy will be the defining battle of the 21st century. This book is indispensable for anyone who wants to grasp what is at stake with that battle. Engrossing, vivid, and lucid, it is a must read for anyone interested in the future of democracy in the United States and globally." --Gabriel Zucman, coauthor of The Triumph of Injustice

Praise for Casey Michel:

"For years, foreign lobbyists have acted as key henchmen for dictators around the world, enriching and entrenching those regimes that much further. Now, Casey Michel shines much-needed light on these foreign lobbyists--and these enablers who are making it easier for despots around the world to expand their reach. Full of sordid tales and striking details, Foreign Agents shows how these foreign lobbyists are, in many ways, just as reprehensible as the dictators they represent--and maybe even more so." --Sir Bill Browder, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Notice and Freezing Order

"An eye-opening depiction of an industry that has largely defied efforts to keep it in check." --The Economist on Foreign Agents

"[A] masterful exposé.... Michel's portrait of endemic corruption is disturbing; lobbying firms, he finds, do little more than serve as conduits for channeling foreign bribes to American officials. The result is a hard-hitting takedown of a cynical industry." --Publishers Weekly (starred) on Foreign Agents

"A timely exposé of American lobbyists who degrade democracy and weaken human rights. In the spirit of Progressive Era muckrakers, Michel reveals the shamelessness, venality, and moral turpitude of those who work to influence federal legislators and the public in order to advance antidemocratic foreign interests... A provocative and alarming account of the political cesspool known as foreign lobbying." --Kirkus Reviews (starred) on Foreign Agents

"Important and well-documented." --Booklist on Foreign Agents

"An eye-popping deep dive into a particularly slimy corner of the D.C. swamp that often escapes scrutiny... Foreign Agents is an investigative accomplishment and a cri de coeur." --Democracy Magazine

Praise for American Kleptocracy:

"An indefatigable young American journalist who has virtually cornered the international kleptocracy beat on the US end of the black aquifer." --The Los Angeles Review of Books on American Kleptocracy

"Brilliantly clear." --Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, on American Kleptocracy

"Fluid, coherent and entertaining." --The Economist on American Kleptocracy

"[Michel] deserves praise for going beyond moralizing and pointing out how an industry geared to enabling the corrupt is not just unsavory but can hurt a country's real economic prospects." --Financial Times on American Kleptocracy

"Michel's diligent dissection is...a capable, eye-opening account of laissez faire financial laws and practices that serve the interest of criminals alone." --Kirkus Reviews on American Kleptocracy

About the Author

CASEY MICHEL is an 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," and Foreign Agents, which received starred reviews from both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly and was described by Foreign Policy Magazine as one of the "biggest foreign-policy book releases of 2024."

His writing on offshoring, foreign lobbying, authoritarianism, and illicit wealth has appeared in The New York Times, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, and The Washington Post, among other outlets, and he has appeared on NPR, BBC, CNN, and MSNBC, among other stations. He has also testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the links between illicit financial networks and national security. He received his Master's degree in Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies from Columbia University's Harriman Institute, and he is currently sanctioned by the Russian regime for his work. United States of Oligarchy is his third book.