User:Bryan See/Kleptocracy

Kleptocracy is a form of government where corrupt leaders (kleptocrats) use their power to exploit the people and natural resources of their own territory in order to extend their personal wealth and political power. Typically this system involves embezzlement of funds at the expense of the wider population. It comes from the Ancient Greek κλέπτης (kléptēs, “thief”), κλέπτω (kléptō, “steal”), from Proto-Indo-European *klep- (“to steal”), and from the Ancient Greek suffix -κρατία (-kratía), from κράτος (krátos, “power, rule”; klépto- thieves + -kratos rule, which means literally "rule by thieves".

Usage before Putin
Before the rise of Putin's oligarchical dominance of Russia, the term was widely used in academia to refer to collapsing third world states. High levels of corruption tended to massively degrade a nation's potential for economic growth, though, at the time, international bodies like the IMF tended to blame non-liberalized economies instead. Such problems tended to be mostly located in third world nations, and thus could be conveniently ignored by world leaders. In many ways it was simply used as a synonym for widespread bureaucratic corruption. Those researching the problem in the 2000s had a hopeful outlook as Kleptocratic governments seemed to be waning. And they were. In the third world.

Vladimir Putin: how to steal a superpower
I am wealthy in that the people of Russia have twice entrusted me with the leadership of a great nation such as Russia. I believe that is my greatest wealth. Vladimir Putin is quite possibly the richest person in the world, at least by some estimates. Mysteriously, he didn't inherit any wealth, found any major businesses, or make any wise investments early in clever startups. The huge quantities of stock he owns, yachts, helicopters, and several palatial estates must've fallen off the back of a truck.

110 people who all happen to be close friends and political supporters of Putin control a little over half Russia's material wealth. In another coincidence, a few billionaires who opposed his rise just happened to have been exiled from the country over technical legal infractions, while their assets were appropriately managed by those same friends. Putin's success seems to have hinged on inheriting the kleptocratic structures put in place by Boris Yeltsin during his two terms in office, while also protecting Yeltsin from the political blowback building those structures fomented. The resulting corruption led to exile of those experienced in all of Russian industries, as well as stunting innovation in the case of Skolkovo and Akademgorodok and causing space programs to fail, such as Fobos-Grunt.