Moscow has ramped up unconventional attacks against the West since it invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has ramped up its campaign of so-called hybrid attacks — such as arson, cyber and information campaigns, or sabotage — throughout Europe.
Recent examples include the alleged cutting of energy and communications cables in the Baltic Sea, which German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius described as “sabotage.” In that case, as in many other examples of hybrid attacks, it is difficult for governments to quickly and definitively attribute the attacks to Moscow.
The reasons Europe and the US are devolving to fascism are for the same reasons fascism always festers: rampant capitalism in the form of decades of regulatory capture, for-profit Healthcare system, stripping of social safety nets, xenophobic nationalism, etc… there is plenty of history and commentary surrounding the devolution to fascism as well as a description of its causes.
This idea that Russia is both too weak to win a war against Ukraine but also strong enough to covertly topple the world’s foremost superpowers is honestly fascist thinking. Make no mistake, Russia has capitalized on the West in its current moment of weakness, but to make this sweeping claim that “American fascism is entirely due to Russian operatives and trolls” is laughable because of how hard it glosses over the steps you have taken to ensure fascism in your own country.
I’m not American, and it’s not fascist thinking to point out the fact that Russia is literally running a fascist playbook to encourage aligned fascism globally.
Pointing that out isn’t meant to excuse the existence of fascists within the US; if anything, its about the idea that there are fascists to work with in every country, and they’re coordinating their efforts.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Democracy_Union
The difference between the US and Russia is there are still people like the head of the FTC trying to curtail corporate power however they can. Russia only does it to enforce loyalty amongst its oligarchs.
The too weak/strong argument is fallacious in this instance because the dimensions we’re comparing aren’t equivalent. A nation that heavily invests in intelligence and asymmetric warfare at the expense of conventional warfare capabilities will be strong in the former and weak in the latter. In Ukraine’s case, Russia thought they were strong in both and found out that they weren’t quite as capable as they had led themselves to believe. That’s why we’re seeing them ramp up the tactics as described in the article.
Once Trump pulls the plug on Ukraine’s funding and access to US intelligence systems, they’ll fall to Russia because they won’t have enough of either capability to win a war of attrition with a larger, richer state.
Ukraine’s fall without US support is not necessarily a foregone conclusion. That would assume Russian offensives are sustainable, which they are not. They’re involved in a surge of their warfighting potential, which is steadily depleting their arsenals and straining their economy.
It remains to be seen how long they can keep it up.