Foreign direct investment and government-to-government economic development assistance are critical for emerging economies. Foreign direct investment also signifies a vote of confidence in the political leadership and long-term economic prospects in fragile states. However, there is growing evidence that many forms of state-driven capital from authoritarian nations are having a corrosive effect on democratic institutions and private enterprise. This event will examine the impact on rule of law and democratic governance in developing nations that receive substantial foreign investment or assistance from Russia and China, as well as ways in which domestic policy reform can counter potential negative effects.
Watch the Event here:
Speakers:
- Andrew Wilson, Executive Director, CIPE
- Marc Schleifer, Regional Director for Europe, Eurasia, and South Asia, CIPE
- Lola Adekanye, Africa Program Officer (Nigeria-based) and Anti-Corruption Specialist, CIPE
- Claude Fontheim, Fontheim International CEO and CIPE Board Member
Moderator:
- Shanthi Kalathil, Director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies, National Endowment for Democracy
Speaker Bios:
- Shanthi Kalathil is Director of the International Forum for Democratic Studies. Her work has focused primarily on issues pertaining to democratization, development, and the impact of information and communication technology, with a particular emphasis on Asia. Previously in her career, she served as a senior Democracy Fellow at the U.S. Agency for International Development, an associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a non-resident associate with the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, and as a consultant for the World Bank, the Aspen Institute and other international affairs organizations. Kalathil has appeared on media including NPR, BBC, VOA, RFA, C-SPAN and others, and has authored or edited numerous policy and scholarly publications, including Diplomacy, Development and Security in the Information Age (Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, 2013). A former Hong Kong-based staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal Asia, Kalathil lectures on international relations in the information age at Georgetown University. She holds degrees from U.C. Berkeley and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Read Shanthi Kalathil’s full bio on the NED website.
“Corrosive capital” is a trademark of the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE).