Exploring Russia's reentry into global capital markets at the dawn of the twenty-first century, Global Finance, Local Control shows how economic integration became deeply entangled with a bare-knuckled struggle for control over the vestiges of the Soviet empire. Igor Logvinenko reveals how the post-communist Russian economy became a full-fledged participant in the international financial sector without significantly improving the local rule of law.

By the end of Vladimir Putin's second presidential term, Russia was more integrated into the global financial system than at any point in the past. However, the country's longstanding deficiencies—including widespread corruption, administration of justice, and an increasingly overbearing state—continued unabated. Scrutinizing stock-market restrictions on foreign ownership during the first fifteen years of Russia's economic transition, Logvinenko concludes that financial internationalization allowed local elites to raise capital from foreign investors while maintaining control over local assets. They legitimized their wealth using Western institutions, but they did so on their terms.

Global Finance, Local Control delivers a somber lesson about the integration of emerging markets: without strong domestic rule-of-law protections, financial internationalization entrenches oligarchic capitalism and strengthens authoritarian regimes.

Igor O. Logvinenko is an Associate Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs and an affiliate of the John Parke Young Initiative on Global Political Economy at Occidental College. His articles have appeared in Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Democratization, Europe-Asia Studies, and Review of International Political Economy. Follow him on X @igorlogvinenko.

Igor Logvinenko's Global Finance, Local Control provides a somber analysis of globalization that accounts for its darker aspects, does not give in to idealistic faith in global markets, and accounts for the autonomy of the political sphere.

The book should be read by anyone who desires or requires a broad but also subtle understanding of political-economic functioning in contemporary Russia. [Global Finance, Local Control] is an important read, unpacking three decades of Russian paradox through a brisk economic history that strikes a serviceable balance between breadth and depth.

Alexander Cooley, Director of Columbia University's Harriman Institute:

Igor Logvinenko's landmark study upends the common assumption that political liberalization follows greater financial internationalization. Russia's experience with global capitalism delivers a stark warning about how oligarchs can exploit a weak rule of law to enable capital flight and domestic autocracy.

Derek Shearer, former US ambassador:

Global Finance, Local Control brilliantly exposes how the globalization of finance in autocratic regimes reinforces corruption and kleptocracy. It should be required reading at the US Treasury and in finance and foreign ministries, as well as a staple of international economics and finance courses.

Susanne Wengle, University of Notre Dame, author of Post-Soviet Power :

With important, original insights into post-Soviet era economic and political transformations, Global Finance, Local Control illuminates the property struggles that created the Russian oligarchy.