On Faustian Capitalism
I try to make the geopolitical equivalent of "Fetch" happen, using an example of UK car exports to Azerbaijan
In case you missed it: I posted a new class in the Foreign Influence Operations course last week. It’s a close look at Russian manipulation of Western media, with some real-life examples. It builds on a number of themes we’ve covered in earlier classes. You can check it out here:
Next week, I hope to have an analysis on this week’s impeachment hearings, the narrative of which originated with Russian intelligence operatives, as I have written here and here. This week’s hearings brought some new eye-popping revelations. I’ll get into all of it, but it will take a little time.
If you’re new to Rant! and haven’t checked out the Foreign Influence Operations course yet, I hope you will. It’s timely!
ALEX’S WEEKLY RANT
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I’ve been trying to make the geopolitical equivalent of “Fetch” happen. The reference comes from the movie Mean Girls, in which one of the mean girls tries to get everyone to use the word “fetch” as slang for “cool.” Regina George, the queen bee, squashes her dreams, however, laying down the law for all the other mean girls by saying it’s never going to happen.
But I am not a mean girl, and fuck the Regina Georges of this world.
#FaustianCapitalism
Let’s make the term Faustian Capitalism happen.
I coined this phrase to refer to instances when we, the collective democratic world, are willing to sell out our democracy for short-term capitalist gains. I’ve been screaming the phrase from the rooftops—but mostly on twitter—for years now. I managed to get The New Yorker to quote me using the phrase in an article on yachts last year. (Quick side note: you know how people who went to Harvard tell you within seconds of meeting them that they went to Harvard? I now do this with being quoted by the New Yorker. I casually slide it into conversation whenever I can.) Anyway, the New Yorker quoted me talking about Faustian Capitalism. But it still didn’t catch on! Weird.
A Real Life Example Of Faustian Capitalism
This month, I ran across an article that is a very good demonstration of Faustian Capitalism in real life.
According to this report from Sky News, British car companies are continuing to sell vehicles to Russia, despite sanctions. They’re not selling cars directly to Russia. That would be illegal. Rather, they are selling them to Central Asian countries, which then sell them to Russia.
In fact, British exports of cars to Russia has dropped to zero. Sounds great, right?
But, British exports of cars to Azerbaijan has increased 1860%.
Furthermore, the amount of sales to Azerbaijan nearly matches the amount of sales to Russia before the war in Ukraine. But wait, there’s more!
During the exact same period in which Britain experienced record car exports to Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan had record car exports to Russia.
Quite a coincidence!
Tom Keatinge, Director at the Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, told Sky News that companies should ask themselves a very simple question before agreeing to some sales: “Do I really think that this exporter who's suddenly come out of nowhere to buy 100 cars is actually importing cars only into that third country? Or might they be trying to make money out of circumventing sanctions and selling that onward into Russia?”
It’s a good question.
Although, I guess the next question these guys probably ask themselves is: “Do I care?” The answer seems to be no. Because, sure, they are not technically breaking the law, but they are doing nothing to help the sanctions regime our governments have put in place to help protect our national security.
Hence: Faustian Capitalism.
The UK car industry denies companies are trying to go around sanctions and insists Azerbaijan just really suddenly needed way more cars, like 2000% more. A spokesman for the industry said the increase has nothing to do with exports to Russia but rather reflects that Azerbaijan has a "flourishing market in its own right."
Azerbaijan does not, in fact, have a flourishing economy.
We’ve seen similar export trends from Europe to Russia’s neighbors in Central Asia, all of which suddenly have “flourishing markets” apparently.
As Robin Brooks, an expert in international finance at the Brookings Institution, has said, such trade diversions come from entities “who—mostly for the profit motive—oppose sanctions. We need to learn from the Russia example how better to deal with such vested interests in our own ranks, to ensure that our sanctions policy is as effective as it needs to be.”
Winning the war—both the kinetic war in Ukraine and the hybrid war going on globally—is in our hands, we just have to choose to do so. If we were to close the sanctions loopholes, get companies to cooperate with the spirit of the sanctions and not just the letter of the sanctions, accept slightly smaller profits for a while, we could end this thing pretty quickly.
Let’s do better than “fetch.” Let’s call these companies out and get “Faustian Capitalism” trending.
THE WEEK’S LINKS
A roundup of stories you should be reading
EUROPE AND RUSSIA
Europe battles ‘avalanche of disinformation’ from Russia (FT)
German soldier charged with Russia spying (DW)
Alex Finley is a former officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, where she served in West Africa and Europe. She writes and teaches about terrorism, disinformation / covert influence, and oligarch yachts. Her writing has appeared in Slate, Reductress, Funny or Die, POLITICO, The Center for Public Integrity, and other publications. She has spoken to the BBC, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, France24, and numerous other media outlets. She was also invited once to speak at Harvard, which she now tells everyone within the first ten seconds of meeting them. She is the author of the Victor Caro series, satirical novels about the CIA. Before joining the CIA, Alex was a journalist, covering Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and the Department of Energy. She reported on issues related to national security, intelligence, and homeland security. Did she mention she was invited to speak at Harvard?
