The United States of Oligarchy by Casey Michel

About the Book:

A staggering examination of how America's wealthiest infiltrated the government and allied with dictators, transforming the U.S. from democracy to oligarchy.

For years, a small group of billionaires has amassed increasing power, steering American politics for their own benefit. Many of these figures are familiar. There’s Elon Musk, who has used his wealth to help place Donald Trump back in the White House. There’s Mark Zuckerberg, who has used his resources to transform America into his own digital playground. There’s Jared Kushner, who has used family connections to gain more political power than he ever dreamed of.

There is only one word to describe such extreme levels of wealth, avarice, and political control: Oligarchy. But the oligarchs are not working alone. From China to Russia to Saudi Arabia and beyond, many of these men have cultivated alliances with America’s most notorious adversaries, opening the doors for autocrats around the world to sink their teeth into the U.S. Placing profit over patriotism, they have transformed into vectors of influence for some of the world’s most repulsive dictatorships, all of whom are trying to create a world dominated by imperialism and tyranny. Connecting everything from the devastation in Ukraine to destruction in Gaza to destabilization in Greenland, these oligarchs have transformed American policy and American politics into their own private fiefdoms, regardless of what Americans actually want.

In United States of Oligarchy, Casey Michel illuminates a story decades in the making, from the earliest efforts to corral and combat American oligarchs, to the new crop of individuals monopolizing American democracy and making the world safe for dictatorship – all for their own benefit.

The oligarchs have risen, and are attempting to reign. The only question remaining is whether or not it’s too late to stop them.

My Review:

This is a frightening book. I was shocked at the power the wealthy have and how their influence has been detrimental to democracy. I was shocked at the revelation of the true cuts DOGE and Musk made and how cutting pro democracy programs benefited authoritarian countries like China. Many of the regulating and investigative agencies have been gutted, causing financial guardrails to be eliminated. Recent actions have opened the door to the US becoming an oligarchy with unregulated political funding by foreign powers through corporations and dark money groups.

Michal presents the information in a compelling way. The book is well written and well documented. The recent tax breaks for the wealthy and previous Supreme Court decisions allow the wealthy to accumulate so much and have so much power in politics, I wonder if democracy in the US will survive the next few years.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

About the Author:

I'm currently the Director of the Combating Kleptocracy Program at the Human Rights Foundation, as well as a writer, analyst, and investigative journalist working on topics ranging from kleptocracy, illicit finance, dark money, foreign lobbying, and foreign interference to the legacies of Russian and Soviet colonialism.

I’ve testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on kleptocracy and oligarchs, and I received my Master's degree in Russia, Eurasia and Eastern Europe Studies from Columbia University's Harriman Institute.

St Martin's Press, 384 pages.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review.

(My star ratings: 5-An exceptional book, 4-Better than average, relevant and liked by me, 3-It is average, 2-It is below average and not liked by me, 1-It is practically unreadable.)