Join SOC ACE researcher, Dr Tena Prelec (University of Rijeka), and discussants Dr Bertram Lang (Philipps University Marburg) and Dr Claudia Baez Camargo (Basel Institute and GI ACE researcher) for a webinar to critically explore the concept of strategic corruption, an emerging framework for understanding the instrumental use of transnational corruption in advancing political and economic objectives. Drawing on case studies from various regions, the discussion will address the term’s value in explaining state strategies, agency and mechanisms; its limitations in both theory and practice; and the challenges in applying it across different geopolitical contexts. It will also reflect on the future direction of strategic corruption research, examining whether and how it can be refined and applied to current global issues such as authoritarianism, geopolitical competition, and state-sponsored illicit financial flows.
Following a 40-minute discussion, participants can engage with the panellists through a 20-minute Q&A. Register for the zoom webinar event here!
https://bham-ac-uk.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YRkRZl2TS62oSQNjNgg4eg
Panellists
Dr Tena Prelec - Speaker
Tena, an Assistant Professor in Politics and IR at the University of Rijeka’s Centre for Advanced Studies (CAS SEE). Her research focuses on transnational linkages in corruption studies and examines the intersection of illicit finance and geopolitical competition. She has held positions at the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics and earned her PhD from the University of Sussex’s Centre for the Study of Corruption. She is currently Work Package leader of the Horizon Europe project GEO-POWER-EU, which looks at EU enlargement in a deteriorating geopolitical context, and Principal Investigator of the GI-ACE project Lawyers: Gatekeepers, Enablers or Technicians? A member of the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group and a Marshall Memorial Fellow of GMFUS, she has published widely in academic and policy outlets. She is co-author of Indulging Kleptocracy: British Service Providers, Post-communist Elites, and the Enabling of Corruption (OUP, 2025).
Dr Bertram Lang - Discussant
Bertram Lang is a political scientist and senior researcher at the University of Marburg, Germany, and a member of the national steering committee of Transparency International Germany. Working from a transnational politics perspective, his research has explored Chinese actors' global impact in the fields of philanthropy, civil society as well as anti-corruption and governance. Bertram has recently published a chapter on Strategic Corruption in the Elgar Encyclopaedia of Corruption and Society and is the co-editor of a forthcoming Special Issue in Public Integrity on strategic corruption as a security issue, together with Nedim Hogic and Joseph Pozsgai-Alvarez. After obtaining his PhD degree from Goethe University Frankfurt, Bertram served as Visiting Professor for the Economy and Society of China at the University of Göttingen. Building on his prior experience as a research associate and policy advisor at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (Merics), Bertram has been working as a China strategy advisor for European policymakers, NGOs and risk consultancies. His comments have appeared in Internationale Politik Quarterly and the New York Times, among others.
Dr Claudia Baez Camargo - Discussant
Dr Claudia Baez Camargo is Head of Prevention, Research and Innovation at the Basel Institute on Governance. Claudia's work brings together academic research and technical assistance with the goal of promoting anti-corruption approaches that are context sensitive and address relevant drivers of corruption. Part of the ACE family through her research with Governance & Integrity ACE (GI ACE) at the University of Sussex, she has conducted extensive research on how behavioural factors, such as those associated with social norms and mental models, can impact anti-corruption outcomes. Claudia holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame, USA and a graduate degree in economics from the University of Cambridge, England. Originally from Mexico, she initiated her professional career working with the Ministry for Social Development, Federal Government of Mexico. Before joining the Basel Institute in 2009, Claudia was Assistant Professor of Political Science at William Paterson University, New Jersey.
Professor Heather Marquette - Chair
Professor Heather Marquette is the Director of the Serious Organised Crime & Anti-Corruption Evidence (SOC ACE) research programme and Professor of Development Politics in the International Development Department at the University of Birmingham. Heather is an Expert Member of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime’s expert network, a member of the RUSI State Threats Task Force, and a Lead Advisor and founding member of the global Thinking & Working Politically Community of Practice. Her research, which has been funded by the British Academy/Global Challenges Research Fund, DFID/FCDO, DFAT and the EU, focuses on transnational threats, particularly corruption and organised crime, as well as aid and foreign policy, governance and political analysis.
Related publications
SOC ACE Research Project: Illicit Finance and Russian Foreign Policy: Linkages and New Dynamics
SOC ACE Research Project: Understanding State Threats
SOC ACE Research Project: Information Manipulation and Organised Crime