Defining kleptocracy: A first step toward victory

Washington is abuzz with talk of “kleptocracy.” Some institutions are working on the national security implications of “rule by theft” and some have identified it as the top threat of the 21st Century — the root of global corruption, instability, and terrorism. Others believe that Western democracies are becoming kleptocratic, contributing to internal threats. But the term needs proper context before policymakers can craft appropriate responses to the challenges it poses.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin attend a group photo session of Emerging Market and Developing Countries meeting during the BRICS Summit, in Xiamen, China September 5, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

Ilham Aliyev, the famously corrupt President of Azerbaijan, tweeted last week that his country “is successfully developing along the path of democracy.” For serious scholars of authoritarianism, this assertion is the equivalent of Robert Mugabe’s 2013 claim of “delivering democracy on a platter” or China’s confusing constitutional designation as a “democratic dictatorship.” Russia, Egypt, and yes, North Korea all claim to be democracies as well.

To avoid these obfuscations, let’s make two key facts clear. First, corruption and theft exist everywhere, in every type of government, and to varying degrees. Second, Azerbaijan, Zimbabwe, Russia, Egypt, North Korea and China are dictatorships — not democracies. There are dozens of scientifically-derived measures of democracy that support this assertion.

A dictatorship is any system of government without transitions of power and without economic and political competition among people free to organize into groups under the rule of law. Dictators, out of necessity, steal from the many and give to a small elite group in exchange for power. The recipient group may be specific families, associates, a political party, or a segment of the military. Typically, it is some mix of all four, but the group is always small relative to the size of the population, and it always steals to remain in power.

Therefore, although kleptocracy is often used as a noun, it is better understood as an adjective. All dictatorships are kleptocratic. They are ruled by theft. For evidence of this claim, check the relationship between any measure of corruption and regime type. The graph below uses V-dem and Freedom House data. The relationship between corruption and type of government is strong and robust.

The Cold War notion that some dictatorships are necessary allies in a fight against worse enemies is now muddle-headed idealism. A mix of strategic military alliances and global economic leadership defeated communism, but treating today’s kleptocratic dictatorships as equal “sovereigns” is not only unnecessary, it has created the unprecedented national security risks of today (such as nuclear proliferation, election meddling, intellectual property theft, terrorism, and illicit drugs). It is pretty safe to assume that dictatorships do not see democracies as sovereign equals.

The global split is now between democratic capitalism and authoritarian capitalism, systems clearly divided between less and more “rule by theft.” Democracies would do well to remember that they tend to stick together, trade more (and better), and never go to war with each other.

In a world where even the impoverished hermit kingdom of North Korea can develop inter-continental ballistic missiles and launch cyber-attacks, there is no need for policies of containment through expensive proxy wars or permanent overseas military installations.

What is needed is a complete re-evaluation and re-orientation of foreign policy away from equivocating democracies and dictatorships and toward strengthening existing democracies. Just hoping that one day Russia and China will democratize is not enough. Doing so allows them leverage and makes democracies look weak. Instead democracies should demonstrate their power by investing in themselves and each other while holding all kleptocratic dictatorships to a higher standard. When democracies lead, the world follows.