Tomorrow, Casey Michel, director of the Human Rights Foundation’s (HRF) Combatting Kleptocracy program, is releasing his new book, “Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy Around the World.”
Michel provides a stunning investigation into the threat posed by US lobbyists working on behalf of foreign dictatorships and how they’ve strengthened kleptocratic regimes around the world, from Russia to Saudi Arabia to Nigeria and beyond. Highlighted as one of the “most anticipated books of 2024” by Foreign Policy, the book is both “masterful” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) and a “timely exposé” (Kirkus, starred review) that investigates how these foreign lobbyists have thwarted democracy around the world ― and what can be done to stop them.
Here’s a sneak peek:
For years, one group of Americans has worked as foot-soldiers for the most authoritarian regimes around the planet. In the process, they’ve not only entrenched dictatorships and spread kleptocratic networks, but they’ve secretly guided US policy without the rest of America even being aware. And now, some of them have begun turning their sights on American democracy itself.
These Americans are known as foreign lobbyists, and many of them spent years ushering dictatorships directly into the halls of Washington, all while laundering the reputations of the most heinous, repressive regimes in the process. These foreign lobbyists include figures like Ivy Lee, the inventor of the public relations industry ― a man who whitewashed Mussolini, opened doors to the Soviets, and advised the Nazis on how to sway American audiences. They include people like Paul Manafort, who invented lobbying as we know it ― and who then took his talents to autocrats from Ukraine to the Philippines, and then back to the White House. And they now include an increasing number of Americans elsewhere: in law firms and consultancies, among PR specialists and former lawmakers, and even within think tanks and universities.
Order your copy of “Foreign Agents” today and learn more about Michel’s critical work with HRF’s Combating Kleptocracy Program.
The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies.