Current geopolitical tensions are spilling over to sovereign debt markets. They raise questions related to technical defaults, willingness versus ability to pay, or currency denomination. At the same time, they sparked renewed interest in research pertaining to the access of despotic regimes to debt markets, specifically the concept known as “odious debt”. This underpins the idea that sovereign debt, more than any other financial instrument, is intertwined with political and moral considerations.

Download the Policy Brief: Odious debt or ESF: Curtailing the access to debt markets for despots (PDF)

About the author: Théo Maret is a Research Assistant within the Chair in Sovereign Debt at Sciences Po