How Foreign Lobbyists Threaten Democracy at Home and Abroad

According to Casey Michel, for years, Western foreign lobbyists have worked as foot-soldiers for the most authoritarian regimes around the planet. In the U.S. alone, the foreign lobbying industry is now worth billions of dollars. And it's no longer just PR shops or traditional lobbying shops. Instead, the industry now encompasses former officials, consultancies, law firms, think tanks, and even universities - all working on behalf of foreign dictatorships. In his address to the IIEA, Casey Michel discusses how this industry grew so quickly, and with so few paying attention? What kinds of threats does it present to democracy and what can be done? About the Speaker: Casey Michel is the Director of the Combating Kleptocracy Program at the Human Rights Foundation. He is the author of American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World's Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History, and the forthcoming Foreign Agents: How American Lobbyists and Lawmakers Threaten Democracy Around the World, both published by St. Martin's Press. His writing has appeared in Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy, among many more outlets. He currently lives in New York.