Rich Russians in Dubai: How has the war in Ukraine changed global capitalism?

Hakemuksen tiivistelmä

What happens to capital when it suddenly loses access to international markets? When a transnational business loses all foreign investors overnight? When Forbes-listed billionaires wake up to find their overseas assets frozen, properties seized, and private jets barred from European airspace by international sanctions? There is a quick and sensible answer. Capital, businesses and economic elites start searching for solutions. And, when the scale of the interrupted trade is large enough, the outcomes of these solutions can seriously reshape the global economic conditions, redirect transnational capital flows and alter geopolitical alliances. Dubai, long known as a global hub for sanction evasion, is one such ‘solution.’ And Russia, a country that found itself in unprecedented international isolation following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, has proved to be a powerful catalyst in the shifting contours of global capitalism. This research investigates the post-2022 migration of tens of thousands of rich Russians to Dubai, focusing on how their relocation of businesses and capital has reshaped global capitalism. While Russia became the most sanctioned country by the West, surpassing Iran and North Korea, the wealth of its super-rich is entangled in global finance and extractive industries, meaning that the choices they make impact the environmental and social conditions future generations will inherit. Combining ethnographic observation, in-depth interviews, and analysis of economic and policy data, the project explores how these elites navigate sanctions, rebuild businesses, forge new networks, and redefine identity and belonging amid geopolitical rupture. Linking micro-level strategies to macro-level shifts, we aim to reveal how elite mobility, petrocapitalism, and sanctions interact to create new inequalities, shape energy markets, and challenge Western-centric economic structures – insights vital for policy, governance, and environmental risk management.