Liz David-Barrett

🌍 Applications are open for the Ibrahim Leadership Fellowship at ITC (Geneva).

Work with a UN–WTO agency supporting SMEs in developing countries, contribute to trade strategies, and take part in high-level discussions.

Deadline: 20/11/25

🔗 Apply now: https://mo.ibrahim.foundation/fellowships

Really enjoyed chatting cleaning up politics with @politicshome.bsky.social along with @petergeoghegan.bsky.social, @danieljbruce.bsky.social and Lloyd Hatton MP. Lots to do still...

Join us on 18 September as we kickoff our first #GIACESeminar with Dan Marks & @jenniferscotland.bsky.social from @rusi.bsky.social, and reflections from Pablo Fernandez (EcoSecurities).

📖 Scoping Corruption in Voluntary Carbon Markets
🕰️ 12:30–1:30 PM (UK time)
🔗 bit.ly/GIACESeminar1

#GIACE hosted our Mid-Year Conference (8–9 Sept) with researchers, Fellows, FCDO & CSO partners.
Day 1 featured multiple panels on research themes, ending with a roundtable on the Changing Global Order.
Day 2 focused on impact - turning research into real-world solutions and more.

bit.ly/giaceconf

@lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social co-chaired a panel on state capture at the @ecpr.bsky.social annual meeting in Thessaloniki.

Our takeaway: Tackling capture means understanding not just corruption itself, but the mechanisms & motivations that make states vulnerable.

Recap blog> bit.ly/ecprconferen...

Radical right accommodation really does not work.

New paper out with this exceptionally talented team
@katharinalawall.bsky.social @robjohns75.bsky.social @drjennings.bsky.social @sarahobolt.bsky.social @zachdickson.bsky.social @danjdevine.bsky.social & @jack-bailey.co.uk

doi.org/10.31235/osf...

Does State Capture Facilitate Strategic Corruption? Scholars have suggested that great powers seeking to engage in strategic corruption, particularly through corrosive capital, target countries where there are governance weaknesses. This article res...

New paper!

Q: Does State Capture Facilitate Strategic Corruption? www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

A: Not necessarily. Even where states are deeply captured, supra-national and domestic institutions with oversight functions can create regulatory barriers

Masking who wields real influence …..? Time to introduce a comprehensive statutory lobbying register to shine a light on lobbying whatever name it goes by….?
@danieljbruce.bsky.social @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social

Portugal launches probe into construction giant’s dealings with Equatorial Guinea’s vice president - ICIJ The president’s son, known as Teodorin, has repeatedly caught the attention of international authorities, including in France where a messy legal battle is underway after French authorities seized…

Portugal’s Attorney General has launched a probe into possible corruption involving Portuguese construction firm Zagope and the eldest son of Equatorial Guinea’s longtime dictator, following an exposé by ICIJ and its media partners.

Read our latest: www.icij.org/news/2025/07...

📚 Highlights from the CSC Summer Academy!

Two days of rich discussion on state capture, grand corruption, integrity in sport, and more. Interested in anti-corruption?
Apply to our MA in Corruption & Governance:
lnkd.in/e-vEK2sb
#AntiCorruption #GoodGovernance #CSC

Thanks Mo @mo.ibrahim.foundation for a really fascinating discussion about #anticorruption, #goodgovernance, #aid and #doingbusiness in Africa!

Check out this very frank and open conversation with Mo Ibrahim about how to tackle corruption and improve governance in Africa!

David Lammy has announced a UK-led Summit on illicit financial flows- will it deliver in tackling kleptocracy and corruption? blogs.sussex.ac.uk/centre-for-t... @spotlightcorruption.org @racheldavies.bsky.social @duncanhames.bsky.social @sussexscsc.bsky.social @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social

‘Come meet us in Dubai’: the new offshoring of grand corruption Sensitive business is moving towards more permissive jurisdictions in response to tighter regulations and greater media attention.

Is it now time for national and international law to designate the “kleptocratic enterprise” of elites and professionals as a form of serious organised crime?
@lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social @danieljbruce.bsky.social
theconversation.com/come-meet-us...

@danieljbruce.bsky.social shared his insights on global corruption with us in Feb ‘22, and @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social joined us in Nov ‘22 to talk about #statecapture You can view both via our archive
www.kwaku.org.uk/Video.html

Inside the Congo Hold-Up: How a Captured Bank Enabled Grand Corruption - Governance & Integrity Anti-Corruption Evidence This briefing reveals how BGFIBank DRC was transformed into a vehicle for grand corruption by Congo’s ruling elite. It details how illicit financial flows were enabled through mis-invoicing, fictitiou...

Financial institutions are the arteries of modern economies—but when captured, they become pipelines for illicit wealth.
@acdatacollective.bsky.social's new brief "Inside the Congo Hold-Up" shows how BGFIBank DRC was hijacked by the Kabila regime to launder public funds.

🔗 bit.ly/ACDCPolicyBr...

Come work with us!

📺NEW VIDEO📺

Last night, key British offshore financial centres failed to meet their own deadline for revealing who owns companies registered there.

It’s time the UK Government escalates its response & ensures places like the BVI are no longer safe havens for the world's corrupt.

Watch and read ⤵️

Fear and favour in captured states So, Trump and Musk fell out. Quelle surprise. But is Musk ready for the fallout?

Trump v. Musk. How buddying up to autocrats can turn sour for business leaders...

Fear and favour in captured states

open.substack.com/pub/elizabet...

What does state capture mean for UNCAC implementation?
In a new #GIACE blog, Tom Shipley explores how the UNCAC process often overlooks the systemic nature of capture, and what a more effective approach could look like.

🔗 Blog: giace.org/statecapture...
🔗 Also Read: bit.ly/uncaccoaliti...

State capture is a deliberate strategy to dismantle democratic checks & repurpose public institutions for private gain.

The @uncaccoalition.bsky.social warns it’s eroding the very institutions UNCAC helped build, turning anti-corruption bodies into political tools.

📖 bit.ly/uncaccoalitionstatement

🚨 Upcoming ACE Seminar
Inside the Congo Hold-Up: How a Captured Bank Enabled Grand Corruption

🗓️ 10 July 2025
🕓 4–5 PM UK Time
💻 Online
🔗 Register: bit.ly/aceseminar8

@lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social @sussexscsc.bsky.social @szakonyi.bsky.social @acdatacollective.bsky.social

Join @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social (GI ACE) as she chairs a crucial conversation with:
🔹 @szakonyi.bsky.social (@acdatacollective.bsky.social)
🔹 Anrike Visser (Global Ground Consulting)

They’ll unpack how financial institutions are weaponised for corruption — and what this means for reform.

Some snapshots from the #ICRNForum2025

Powerful insights from the GIACE community in today's sessions:
🛠️ Tools of Change, spotlighting innovation from the Global South in tackling corruption (Fellows)
🗳️ Joint Session: Corruption & Democracy,with @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social as one of the speakers.

Poland’s presidential vote - Monocle Poland's presidential election comes to a close and Dior announces their new creative director.

My interview with Monocle Radio's 'The Globalist' show on the Polish presidential election:
monocle.com/radio/shows/...

Check out our latest updates on research about what works to tackle #corruption and #statecapture..!

‘Roadmap for corruption’: Trump dive into cryptocurrency raises ethics alarm The president’s hawking of $Trump memecoin has sparked a firestorm of criticism over potential influence buying

Reading this and thinking back to @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social and @danieljbruce.bsky.social visits in 2022…..

www.kwaku.org.uk/Video.html

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...