Sovereign Debt and Geopolitics Explained: Expert Insights from Professor Lev Breydo
A recent episode of The International Risk Podcast featured Lev Breydo, Assistant Professor of Law at William & Mary Law School, exploring how sovereign debt has evolved into a strategic instrument of power amid rising geopolitical risk.
In the episode, “Debt as Leverage: Sovereign Lending and Geopolitical Influence,” Breydo and host Dominic Bowen, a leading expert on international risk and crisis management, discuss how credit markets, financial infrastructure, and legal frameworks now shape state behavior, constrain autonomy, and serve as tools of coercion below the threshold of open conflict.
The conversation examines political defaults, sanctions, and the weaponization of finance against the backdrop of record global debt levels and mounting risks for emerging and frontier economies. Breydo and Bowen also analyze the United States’ central role in the global credit system and how domestic fiscal politics can trigger international instability. Finally, the episode considers how artificial intelligence and digital finance may transform sovereign risk, transparency, and future fault lines in the global financial order.
Breydo joined the William & Mary Law faculty in July 2024. His scholarship spans law, finance, and technology, focusing on sovereign debt markets, financial institutions, digital assets, and AI. His research investigates how legal frameworks and market structures shape power, risk, and governance in the international system, with particular attention to debt distress, sanctions, and the strategic use of financial infrastructure. He regularly engages with policymakers, academics, and market participants on issues at the intersection of geopolitics, financial stability, and emerging technologies.
The episode was released on December 29, 2025, and recorded in October. Learn more about Professor Breydo’s insights on sovereign lending at the International Risk Podcast page.
You can listen to the podcast on the following sites:
The International Risk Podcast