Artful appointment: sanctions expert Nephew is new anti-corruption czar

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced 5 July, that sanctions expert, Columbia University scholar and author of The Art of Sanctions, Richard Nephew has been appointed to be the State Department’s Coordinator on Global Anti-Corruption.  

Blinken said, ‘This position, pledged on International Anti-Corruption Day, will integrate and elevate the fight against corruption across all aspects of U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance. I welcome Richard back to the Department in this critical role and am confident that his experience and dedication to fight corruption and promote accountability will prove invaluable to our global efforts.’

He said that the US regarded anti-corruption efforts as ‘a core national security interest…Richard and his team will strengthen U.S. government alignment on anti-corruption issues and work closely with international partners to advance U.S. anti-corruption policy.’

The website of Columbia University’s Energy Policy unit, which lists Nephew as a senior research scholar, notes, ‘Richard Nephew is the author of The Art of Sanctions [described as “a much-needed practical framework for planning and applying sanctions”] and an expert on the use of sanctions for deterrence and impact. Nephew most recently served as the deputy special envoy for Iran in the Biden-Harris administration. He previously served as Principal Deputy Coordinator for Sanctions Policy at the Department of State and as the lead sanctions expert for the U.S. team negotiating with Iran during the Obama Administration.

‘Nephew served as the Director for Iran on the National Security Staff where he was responsible for managing a period of intense expansion of U.S. sanctions on Iran. Earlier in his career he served in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation at the State Department and in the Office of Nonproliferation and International Security at the Department of Energy.’