Wartime “Oligarch-Washing” by the West

Relations to Big Russian Wealth Gone Toxic

Datos Bibliográficos

ID9537378
AutoresElisabeth Schimpfossl (0000-0002-6168-7411, Aston University, autor de correspondencia)
Año2026
Fecha de publicación2026-04-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAmerican Behavioral Scientist (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0002-7642 • E-ISSN: 1552-3381
EditorialSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00027642251397158
OpenAlexW7148863188
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas18

This article inspects the changing relations towards Russian oligarchs in the West. The focus is on how those with vested interests in Russian oligarch money handled the first turbulent weeks of Putin’s war in Ukraine and the major developments since. The analysis builds upon data gathered in real time. The initial responses to the war were chaotic and panic-driven. Russian oligarchs were dropped overnight. Art museums dispensed with their long-term trustees, Western governments passed targeted sanctions, and eventually the corporate world joined in too. These various processes were spontaneous and out of sync with one another. Yet this article argues that certain patterns nevertheless crystalized. Oligarch-washing served as an analytical frame to make sense of these dynamics. The concept it evolved into is put forward for discussion here

First world war · Focus (optics · Frame (networking · Spanish Civil War · sync · World War II · Global Security and Public Health · Russia and Soviet political economy · Soviet and Russian History