ANALYTIC AND POLICY ARTICLES
"Reconstruction Aid to Ukraine: What we know (or should know) from the history of 1990s assistance to Eastern Europe," VOX EU, June 14, 2023; VOX Ukraine
"When Civilizational Models Collide," Project Syndicate, March 3, 2023.
"It's 2020. Do You Know Who Your Government Is Serving? America Has Been Conflating Politics and Business for Years-And if We're Not Careful, We Could Go the Way of Post-Soviet Eastern Europe," Zócalo Public Square, December 10, 2020.
"Beyond Cash: Reputation Laundering as a Feature of Transnational Kleptocracy." Commentary written for the National Endowment for Democracy's International Forum for Democratic Studies, December 2020.
"The Venal Roots of Political Turmoil," Project Syndicate, December 21, 2017.
Reprinted in The Straits Times, and in LiveMint.
(Read in PDF)
"The Big Question: What is the Relationship Between Kleptocracy and Authoritarianism?" National Endowment for Democracy, November 16, 2017, The International Forum for Democratic Studies asked five leading experts about the relationship between authoritarianism and kleptocracy.
"Foreign Influencing Goes Far, Far Beyond Russian Hack Attacks," The Huffington Post, December 21, 2016.
"'Extreme Vetting' Needed... For Pro-Putin Trump Players," The Huffington Post, December 14, 2016.
"Donald Trump and a World of Distrust," Project Syndicate, November 11, 2016.
"When the public's trust is betrayed, it only fuels a demagogue like Trump," The Huffington Post, November 1, 2016.
"Trumpism 101: The Outsider, Ignored For Years. No longer.," The Huffington Post, October 27, 2016.
"Einfluss ohne Grenzen: Die neuen globalen Schatteneliten (Influence Without Borders: The New Global Shadow Elite)," Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, pp. 77-88, June, 2016 (Read in PDF format in German).
"Clinton's Credibility Questioned as Bill's Philanthropy 'Takes It to the Limit'," The Huffington Post, February 29, 2016.
"We Need to Clean Up Our Understanding of Corruption," New America Weekly, December 17, 2015.
Syndicated and reprinted: Pacific Standard, January 8, 2016.
"The Petraeus Wrist-slap," USA Today, March 24, 2015.
Editors' Pick: "Beyond Bribery: It's time to start fighting the most insidious form of corruption — the kind that's legal," Foreign Policy, February 17, 2015.
"Davos & Disruption Done Right: In Praise of "Difficult Women" in Finance," Featured in The Huffington Post, February 5, 2015.
"This is why Piketty matters: Davos and the real story about economists and the 1 percent," Salon, February 1, 2015.
"Forget the McDonnells. We're ignoring bigger, more pernicious corruption right under our noses," The Washington Post, January 12, 2015. (Read in PDF)
"U.S. Public Pension Funds and Alternative Investments" (with Siona Listokin), Institute for New Economic Thinking, New York, September, 2014. Written under the "Institutional Investors and the Offshore Hedge Fund Industry: Investigating Patterns of Linkage, Organization, and Governance" grant (2014, 2015).
Read the paper (PDF)
"Is the intelligence community out of control?" - "Topic A", In The Washington Post, July 25, 2010.
"Contracting out U.S. security?" – The Arena Debate at Politico, July 2010.
"'Shadow Elite': Do You Know Whose Agenda You're Being Sold?" In The Huffington Post, January 21, 2010.
"For The Shadow Elite Failure Often Guarantees Future Rewards" In The Huffington Post, January 14, 2010.
"Is the Government In Charge, Or Is It the Shadow Elite?" In The Huffington Post, January 7, 2010.
"Wall Street's bailout gives me déjà vu…" In Salon, November 8, 2009.
"Ethical Research across Power Divides." In Anthropology Newsletter, September 2009, issue 6, p. 18.
"The Shadow Army." In The Boston Globe, September 30, 2007, p. D.9.
"The Corruption Conundrum: Bridging Perspectives Between East and West." Submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice, December 2006.
"Harvard’s Role in U.S. Aid to Russia." In The Boston Globe, March 25, 2006, p. A15.
"The Role of Sovereign Cliques in the Derailing of Democracy." In Anthropology News, vol. 46, no. 8, November 2005, pp. 28-30.Read in PDF
"Flex Power: A Capital Way to Gain Clout, Inside and Out." The Washington Post, Sunday, December 12, 2004; p. B04.
(Also on web site: washingtonpost.com, titled "Flex Power: An Influential Band of Policy Brothers").
"Neocon 'Flex Players' Await Bush's Second Term." In Pacific News Service, November 3, 2004.Read in PDF.
"Danger of Private Agendas in Foreign Policy." In Financial Times, August 11, 2004, p. 11.
"Too Tightknit to be Accountable: The outsourcing of crucial government functions to private individuals and companies is an alarming trend." In Salon, August 12, 2004.
"Society for the Anthropology of Europe." With Deborah Cahalen and Lynn Maners. In Anthropology News, vol. 43, issue 1, January 2002, pp. 50-51.
"Who Taught Crony Capitalism to Russia?" In The Wall Street Journal, March 19, 2001.
"Tainted Transactions: Harvard, the Chubais Clan and Russia's Ruin." In The National Interest, no. 59, Spring 2000, pp. 23-34.Read in PDF.
"Tainted Transactions: An Exchange. Jeffrey Sachs, Anders Aslund, Janine Wedel. Wedel Replies. " In The National Interest, no. 60, Summer 2000, pp. 107-110.Read in PDF.
"Wedel Replies." In The National Interest, no. 61, Fall 2000, pp. 120-121.Read in PDF.
"U.S. Economic Aid to Russia: A Case Study in Subcontracting Governance?" In Civil Society, NGOs and Global Governance, Bob Deacon, ed. Helsinki, Finland: GASPP Occasional Papers, no. 7/2000, July 2000, pp. 33-43.
"U.S. Economic Aid to Eastern Europe: A Case Study in Transactorship." In Legal Reform, Investment Markets and International Assistance: The Russian Market Transition in 2000, The Harriman Economic and Business Review, vol. 1, no. 1, January 2000, pp. 16-25.
"Harvard's 'Best and Brightest' Aided Russia's Economic Ruin," with Sam Husseini. In Extra: The Magazine of FAIR -- The Media Watch Group, vol. 13, no. 1, January/February 2000, pp. 19-20.
"Reaching through the Opened Door: A Comparison of American and European Approaches to Assisting Central and Eastern Europe." In American and German Cultural Policies in Eastern Europe: Assessing Developments in the 1990's, Frank Trommler, ed., Washington, D.C.: American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, October 1999, pp. 41-60.
"How the Chubais Clan, Harvard Fed Corruption." In Los Angeles Times, September 12, 1999, p. M1.
"U.S. Aid to Kosovo: Lessons from Past Experience." Testimony (written and oral) before the Committee on International Relations, U.S. House of Representatives, August 4, 1999.
"Baiting the Bear." In The Washington Times, June 23, 1999, p. A17.
"From Triumphalism to Reality." In Foreign Service Journal, June 1999, vol. 76, no.6, pp. 40-46.
"U.S. Assistance for Market Reforms: Foreign Aid Failures in Russia and the Former Soviet Bloc." In Policy Analysis, Washington, D.C.: CATO Institute, no. 338, March 22, 1999.
"Aid to Russia." In Foreign Policy in Focus, vol. 3, no. 25, September 1998.
"U.S. Aid Added to Russia's Woes." In San Francisco Chronicle, September 3, 1998, p. A27.
"The Harvard Boys Do Russia: How the Best and Brightest Helped Destroy the Russian Economy." In The Nation, June 1, 1998, pp. 11-16 (cover story).
"How AID 'Reformed' Russia." In Foreign Service Journal, vol. 75, no. 5, May 1998, pp. 26-33.
"Cliques and Clans and Aid to Russia: How the U.S. Buoyed the 'St. Petersburg Clan'." In Transition, vol. 4, no. 2, July 1997, pp. 66-71.
"Abuse of Trust: U.S., Russia, and Harvard." In The Boston Globe, Thursday, May 29, 1997, p. A15.
"Western Aid to Central and Eastern Europe." In Anthropology Newsletter, December 1995, vol. 36, no. 9, p. 11.
"Aid Conference in Washington: Greater Recipients Involvement Advised." In Transition. vol. 6, no. 4, World Bank, Washington, D.C. April. 1995, p. 10.
"In Russia, Don't Tie US Aid to Privatization." In The Christian Science Monitor, March 1, 1995, p. 18.
"Studying Up: Amending the First Principle of Anthropological Ethics." (with David A. Kideckel). In Anthropology Newsletter, October 1994, vol. 35, no. 7, p. 37.
"Lessons of Western Technical Aid to Central and Eastern Europe." In Transition, vol. 5, no. 6, World Bank, Washington, D.C. July-August 1994, pp. 14-17.
"Central and Eastern Europe: Unfinished Revolutions." Policy Paper published by the Atlantic Council of the United States, Jan. 1993. Author, Additional Views; Member, Working Group.
"Ethnic Minorities and Potential Conflict in Poland." In State of the Peoples: A Human-Rights Report on Societies in Danger. Cultural Survival, 1993, p. 199.
Testimony (written and oral) on "U.S. Assistance to Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union." U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Europe and the Middle East. April 7, 1992.
"Getting it Right in Aid to Russia." In The New York Times (FORUM, Sunday Business Section). April 5, 1992.
"Polish Officials Sour on U.S. Aid Approach." In The Christian Science Monitor, March 2, 1992.
"Beware Western Governments Bearing Gifts." In The Wall Street Journal Europe, January 14, 1992.
"The Economist Heard around the World." In World Monitor, October 1990 (cover story).
Series of four op ed articles on Eastern Europe. In The Christian Science Monitor (International Edition). Winter, 1990:
• "German Reunification, Polish Vulnerability."
(March 29, 1990)
• "Poles Try to Catch up with Capitalism." (March 12, 1990)
• "After Poland's Euphoria." (January 5, 1990)
• "Solidarity's Caution." (December 28, 1989)
"Lech's Labors Lost?" In World Monitor. November 1989 (cover story).
"Why Solidarity Appears Unable to Make Progress: Poland's 'Inner Circle' Struggling." In San Francisco Chronicle. November 8, 1989.
Series of six op ed articles on Eastern Europe. In The Christian Science Monitor (International Edition). Fall 1989:
• "Polish Survivors of the Gulag." (October 31, 1989)
• "Poland: Still Socialist." (October 19, 1989)
• "The Grass-Roots Revolution in Poland."
(September 28, 1989)
• "Solidarity in Decline." (September 21, 1989)
• "Poland's Fledgling Parties." (September 14, 1989)
• "Solidarity's Quandary, Now it's Responsible."
(September 7, 1989)
"New Wave of Polish Activists, Entrepreneurs." In The Christian Science Monitor, February 13, 1989.
