Accountability, not transparency, should be the anti-corruption endgame strategy
Since the onset of Russia’s War in Ukraine, the United States and European Union have attempted to apply economic pressure on both the Russian economy and Russian oligarchs. Unfortunately, Russian oligarch assets abroad are not exactly transparent, making serving such justice a formidable task. More than three months later, it is still not apparent how successful such measures have been or will ever be. This challenge solidifies the importance of global transparency efforts, but it also raises a demand to develop the anti-corruption strategy further to include accountability and public engagement.
If progress is made, it is unclear how much general media attention will be given to ensure widespread knowledge of its progress outside of the anti-corruption professional community. Based on a Google Trends history, global web searches for the term “oligarch” drastically increased after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, peaking one week later on March 3, 2022.
Published Date: July 11, 2022