The Perils of International Capital

Shows how financial globalization can be perilous, holding the capacity to finance the durability of authoritarian governments.

Faisal Z. Ahmed (Author)

9781108488655, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 19 December 2019

198 pages, 22 b/w illus. 26 tables
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.6 cm, 0.41 kg

'A good book does not close the conversation, but opens it. Faisal Ahmed has written a really good book, opening a conversation about the influence of foreign capital on non-democratic governments.' Erik Jones, Survival

Can foreign capital empower dictatorship? This groundbreaking book develops a unified theory that links three prominent forms of international capital to the endurance of dictatorships. International capital empowers governments to finance two key instruments of non-democratic politics: repression and patronage. The Perils of International Capital uses theory, case studies, and cross-national statistical evidence to demonstrate causal effects between foreign capital and authoritarian politics. These finding are crucial to scholars and policymakers alike, as they call for a recalibration of the welfare effects associated with greater financial globalization. Ahmed reveals that, while foreign capital may improve economic development, it can tragically hinder democratic governance in the process.

1. The politics of international capital
2. International capital and authoritarian survival: a descriptive overview
3. Foreign rents and rule
4. Aiding repression
5. Remittances and autocratic power
6. Foreign investments in militarism
7. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Economic geography [RGCM], International economic & trade law [LBBM], Political economy [KCP], Economics [KC], International relations [JPS], Political structures: totalitarianism & dictatorship [JPHX], Politics & government [JP]