Liz David-Barrett
@lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social
Director of the Centre for the Study of Corruption, University of Sussex My book, Power Grab: Opportunists, Populists and the Rise of State Capture, will be out in March 2027!
📣 The 11th #ICRN Forum, hosted by @sussexscsc.bsky.social and sponsored by GI ACE, is accepting submissions! 📅 Dates: 17 - 19 June 2027 📍 Location: @sussex.ac.uk 🗓️ Deadline: 9 December 2026 🔗 Find out more and submit: www.icrnetwork.org/what-we-do/c...
One of walliams’ victims got a threat img legal letter from Schillings *when she warned another very young woman off going to walliams’ house* These libel lawyers really are a plague on British society
Great paper introducing an important distinction - economic integration in Europe should be transformative not extractive…
Tena Prelec@tenaprelec.bsky.social · 3d agoLong time in the making: we argue that, for economic integration to truly advance EU enlargement, the extractive model must make space for a transformative one. www.biepag.eu/publication/...
#OC24 is underway! Tomorrow (5 Nov) at 05:30 CET, Panel 22 asks how illicit trade discourse is built, contested & tested. Mayya Konovalova, Adam Nix & Yangjun Han draw on our SOC ACE Silk Road project, with @samibensassi.bsky.social moderating. Register: shorturl.at/91aSj
24-hour Global Organized Crime Conference - 2026
shorturl.at
📣 Register for this week's GI ACE online seminar, ‘Hiding in plain sight: Russia’s offshore networks in Europe and how to unplug them’! 📅 Thursday 5 November 🕐 1–2pm UK Time 💻 Register: bit.ly/4s7WCog
I am told by my the publisher of my book Security After Christendom that readers can enjoy 50% off, along with free shipping using code CONFSHIP. That still makes its £17 or US$22 but it's a weighty text that is sure to help get you to sleep at night! wipfandstock.com/products/sec...
Security after Christendom
We live in the wealthiest and most heavily defended world in history, so why do we feel so insecure? In a secular world, what does Christian theology have …
wipfandstock.com
🏛️ Meet the panellists joining us for the launch of the 2026 IIAG! Moderated by Mo Ibrahim, the discussion will feature Amina Mohammed, Moussa Faki, Vera Songwe, Masood Ahmed and Charles Michel. 📅 Saturday 31 October | 6:25–8:00 pm EET 🔴 Watch live: https://mif.live (FR, ENG, AR)
Since 2022, companies belonging to Hungarian oligarch Lőrinc Mészáros, who amassed a fortune from government contracts, donated more than $13 million to an online mouthpiece of the Fidesz party, a Direkt36 investigation reveals. buff.ly/MjTs7vl
How Hungary’s richest man funneled millions into Orbán’s propaganda machine - ICIJ
Since 2022, companies belonging to Lőrinc Mészáros, who amassed a fortune from government contracts, donated more than $13 million to an online mouthpiece of the Fidesz party, a new Direkt36…
buff.ly
What is the purpose of football? My colleague Dan Hough explores FIFA, integrity and the events of the World Cup @sussexscsc.bsky.social @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social blogs.sussex.ac.uk/centre-for-t...
The 2026 FIFA World Cup; Power, money and a fundamental lack of integrity | Centre for the Study of Corruption
blogs.sussex.ac.uk
New on KickBack: @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social speaks with @csc-barrington.bsky.social about *Corrupted Kingdom*, Britain’s decline in public integrity, weaknesses in accountability and what it will take to rebuild trust. Listen: Spotify: bit.ly/4hiYY0h SoundCloud: bit.ly/4ho1RwK
📣 Join us next Wednesday (27 May) for a #GIACE roundtable: ‘How to recover from state capture: lessons for Hungary from South Africa, Sri Lanka, and beyond’. 🗓️ Wednesday 27 May 🕰️ 1pm to 2pm (BST) 🔗 Register: bit.ly/4w6mQcF
📣 Join us on Wednesday 27 May for a #GIACE roundtable: ‘How to recover from state capture: lessons for Hungary from South Africa, Sri Lanka, and beyond’. 🗓️ Wednesday 27 May 🕰️ 1pm to 2pm (BST) 🔗 Register: bit.ly/4w6mQcF
🚨 The April 2026 edition of the GI ACE Newsletter was published yesterday! 🔗 Read the newsletter: bit.ly/4d09So7 🔗 Subscribe to newsletter: bit.ly/4tNECzR
📣 Synthesis of #GIACE research on illicit financial flows published ‘Fighting illicit financial flows: key learnings from GI ACE research’, authored by GI ACE Researcher @devipillay.co.za, synthesises publications produced by the CSC-hosted research programme between 2020 and February 2026.
48 hours later and the only outlet to follow up this story has been the National in Scotland Call me old fashioned but think destroying information with a legal hold on it and a disclosure to Serious Fraud is pretty important stuff open.substack.com/pub/democrac...
Labour Together PR firm tried to destroy crucial evidence
Controversial firm reported to Serious Fraud Office after senior executive ordered deletion of evidence of Labour Together’s smear campaign against journalists
open.substack.com
📼 The recording of last week’s GI ACE seminar ‘Addressing corruption in crisis situations: towards effective crisis-responses in the Malawian health system’ is now available to watch on YouTube: bit.ly/42hH2KN
“They’ve learned from Hungary that you have to change the voting rules. That’s how autocrats win elections - by rigging the system. That’s exactly what Trump has been trying to do.” Vital conversation w/ @kimlanelaw.bsky.social on Democracy for Sale democracyforsale.substack.com/p/trumps-nex...
Trump’s next move is being tested in Hungary
I speak to Kim Lane Scheppele about Orbán, Trump and how MAGA is following the Hungarian playbook
democracyforsale.substack.com
A recurring theme w/ MAGA/radical right is *endlessly* accusing their enemies (falsely) of doing why they are *actually* doing It’s Orban who spent fortune interfering in politics outside Hungary Including paying Reform’s Matt Goodwin €10k a month democracyforsale.substack.com/p/orbans-brits
What happens to Britain's radical right if Orbán loses?
Inside the money, power and patronage connecting Hungary and the British right
democracyforsale.substack.com
EUwatch 🇪🇺@euwatch.live · 7mo agoJD Vance accuses EU of ‘interference’ as he visits Hungary to help Orbán win election
📃 New working paper: Madagascar at a crossroads: breaking the cycle of state capture Authored by Dafy Faramalala Andriamparany, @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social, Ketakandriana Rafitoson, and Tom Shipley. Access the paper in both French and English: bit.ly/4aTWx0L
📼 The recording of our second GI ACE seminar held in collaboration with the Illicit Finance Data Lab, ‘Sourcing data for the next generation of illicit finance research’, is now available to watch on YouTube: bit.ly/4bcmgAj
KB – Episode 145🎙️ @csc-barrington.bsky.social speaks with @marianizzero.bsky.social about research reframing kleptocracy as a transnational criminal enterprise, and the implications for UK asset recovery and national security. 🎧 Spotify bit.ly/SpotifyKBep145 🎧 SoundCloud bit.ly/SoundCloudKB...
Opening remarks were delivered by Alanna Markle (OO), Yara Esquivel (WBG), and @thomtownsend.bsky.social (OO), and the keynote speech was delivered by @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social (CSC/US). We look forward to engaging discussions over the next two days.
🚨 The February 2026 edition of the GI ACE Newsletter is out now! 🔗 Read this month’s newsletter: bit.ly/4aIui5b 🔗 Subscribe to receive future editions via email: bit.ly/4rxx8j4
“U.S. foreign policy is now largely subordinate to the private interests of the president and his retainers,” write @cooleyoneurasia.bsky.social and @dhnexon.bsky.social.
The Age of Kleptocracy
Geopolitical power, private gain.
foreignaffairs.com
🎙️ New KickBack episode Why do liberation movements that fight for freedom so often succumb to corruption once in power? 🧵
@lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social speaks with Lord Peter Hain about Liberation and Corruption, exploring state capture, global finance, and the lessons from South Africa and beyond.
📼 Our latest GI ACE seminar, 'The promise and perils of using leaked and sensitive data to research illicit finance’, is available: bit.ly/4ciYrZI Thank you to @szakonyi.bsky.social, Tom Mayne, and @lizdavidbarrett.bsky.social. The event was held in collaboration with the Illicit Finance Data Lab.
