About this episode

Jason Pack interviews Jamison Firestone about the origins of Putin's Russia and the implications of corruption and authoritarianism.

This week, Jason is joined by a real life Mega-Orderer--Jamison Firestone, acclaimed lawyer, author, and activist. He witnessed firsthand Russia's descent from the promise of the Yeltsin years into the corruption and authoritarianism of Vladimir Putin's regime.Firestone was also the employer and close colleague of Sergei Magnitsky, whose death after exposing a massive tax fraud inspired the Magnitsky sanctions now used by democracies around the world to target corrupt officials and human rights abusers.Jamison joins Disorder to discuss his powerful new memoir, Rule of Lies, and to unpick piece by piece from his insider tales how Russia's descent into kleptocracy happened.Jason and Jamison also reflect on their mutual friend Sir Bill Browder, the legacy of the martyred Alexei Navalny, and why Navalny's extraordinary moral courage bears comparison with figures such as Socrates and even Jesus. As they Order the Disorder, they turn from diagnosis to solutions. Should the West finally confiscate the roughly $300 billion of frozen Russian state assets? Why has Belgium remained one of the principal obstacles? What can be done to make it give up the Goose that lays the Golden Egg? And…

People in this episode

Host: Jason Pack

Guest: Jamison Firestone

Topics covered

• Putin's Russia
• corruption
• authoritarianism
• Magnitsky sanctions
• international action
• rule of law

Keywords

• Putin
• Russia
• corruption
• authoritarianism
• Magnitsky
• Navalny
• international action
• rule of law

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Magnitsky sanctions, Russia, Belgium

Books & works: Rule of Lies

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