This report will analyze the actively developing legislation on transparency of foreign influence and, in particular, laws on “foreign agents” in many countries of the world today from the perspective of their potential to counter illegitimate non-democratic interference and their risks from a human rights perspective.
Pursuant to this dichotomy, the talk will analyze this legislation within the framework of "resilient democracy" as a tool to curb the "sharp power" practiced by non-democratic actors and catalyzing the erosion of democracy. On the other hand, it will discuss how, by exploiting narratives of protection of sovereignty, independence and national security, non-democratic actors can use this legislation as a means to fight dissenters, a tool for the weaponization of transparency.
Maxim Krupskiy joined the Illinois Scholars at Risk Program in the fall of 2024. He is a Ph.D. in Philosophy, human rights defender and attorney-at-law with more than twelve years of experience practicing law in Russia. Throughout his work, he has worked with many Russian and international NGOs, defending rights of refugees and asylum seekers, Russian civil activists persecuted for political reasons, and NGOs labeled as “foreign agents” by Russian authorities. His current research focuses on the comparative analysis of foreign influence transparency legislation and, in particular, “foreign agents” laws in Russia, Eastern Europe, Eurasia and beyond. This spring semester, Dr. Krupskiy is teaching a new course "Contemporary Autocracy in Theory, Law, and Practice," which analyzes contemporary autocratic practices and the challenges they pose to the democratic order regionally and globally.
