SIEGEL David <br/><br/>
From Oligarchs to Oligarchy:  the failure of U.S. sanctions on Russia and its implications for theories of informal politics/ 
David Siegel 
 -  2022 
<br/><br/> Drawing heavily on theories about Russia's informal politics, American sanctions were designed to change Russian foreign policy by exploiting political conflict among oligarchs and the state elite; however, after nearly eight years of sanctions, Russian elites seem more united than ever. I propose that Russia's oligarchs-the ruthless self-interested economic elite in Russia's informal political system-might sometimes act as a cohesive oligarchy, particularly when their wealth is threatened from external rather than domestic sources, as has been the case under Western sanctions. Through an in-depth case study on the design and outcome of sanctions, this article seeks to develop a more dynamic theory of Russia's informal politics and explain the apparent cohesion among state and economic elites since 2014 as the result of a politics of wealth defense induced by Western sanctions. 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>INFORMAL POLITICS--OLIGARCHY--RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY--U.S.-RUSSIAN RELATIONS--SANCTIONS--POLICY THEORY--UNITED STATES