Publication

This report sets out a way to prevent an all-too-common form of theft from some of the world’s poorest people. An illegitimate, unelected regime signs a contract with a foreign agent, handing over part of the national patrimony in exchange for a short-run payment, which the regime appropriates or uses in part to finance repression. Legitimate successor regimes often need to levy taxes to fulfill debt contracts incurred in this manner for fear of legal retribution and loss of reputation with investors if they fail to repay. To alleviate the burden that unjust transactions impose on successor governments and their citizens, we propose a new tool: a declaration that successor governments to a (named) illegitimate regime would not be bound by contracts that the illegitimate regime signs after the declaration.