Summary of Casey Michel's American Kleptocracy

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Equatorial Guinea gained its independence in 1968, and was ruled by a dictator named Francisco Macias Nguema. His regime was brutal, and he allegedly killed his main electoral opponent. Teodorin’s father, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, was in charge of the National Guard and Black Beach prison, and he was tasked with torturing any dissidents. #2 Obiang’s regime is one of the most brutal in the world, and yet it has been able to stay in power because of oil. The country’s media freedoms are ranked worse than Somalia and Kazakhstan, and its people live in abject poverty. #3 Teodorin, Obiang’s son, enjoyed the celebrity lifestyle that came with being a rich young man in the 1990s. He dropped out of Pepperdine University and flew back to Equatorial Guinea, where his father had an assignment for him. #4 Obiang wanted his son to become Equatorial Guinea’s newest Minister of Forestry. Teodorin knew nothing about forestry management, but he was willing to learn. He was only too happy to oblige, and he proved he could run the portfolio as effectively as his father expected.