Dan Snow's History Hit

What Is an Oligarch?

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Episode notes

The use of the word ‘Oligarch’ has been increasingly rampant across international news outlets since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine just weeks ago. But what does it actually mean?

Jeffrey A. Winters, an American political scientist at Northwestern University who specialises in the study of oligarchy, notes that the common thread for oligarchs across history is that wealth defines them, empowers them and inherently exposes them to threats.

While Dan makes his voyage home, Matt Lewis, from the ‘Gone Medieval’ podcast, steps in for this timely episode. To try and make sense of this ancient, yet contemporary phenomenon, Jeffrey joins Matt for a discussion of what oligarchy is, historic and contemporary cases and the relationship between oligarchy and democracy.

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