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Kimberly Donovan on Geopolitics and the Emerging Axis of Evasion

May 8, 2025

"As we start to piece this all together, we found that there were certain trends and typologies that were very similar in terms of how China was working with Russia, as well as how China was working with Iran, and then just kind of shaping out this broader network of actors."

In the latest episode of the Sanctions Space podcast—recorded at the ACAMS Hollywood Assembly—Justine is joined by Kimberly Donovan, director of the Economic Statecraft Initiative within the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center. They discuss geopolitical trends and the interrelation with sanctions compliance, including the emergence of an "axis of evasion" network utilizing techniques such as barter trade to circumvent sanctions restrictions and how modern financial crime fighters need to increase their understanding of the evolving geopolitical environment in order to build it into their programs.

Prior to joining the Atlantic Council, Kimberly served in the federal government for fifteen years, most recently as the acting associate director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s (FinCEN) Intelligence Division and FinCEN’s chief of staff and senior advisor to the director.

Read Kimberly’s full bio here.

Click here to listen to the podcast.

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