To Build a Fire:Inside Russia's Campaign of Sabotage in Europe
newyorker.com28 points by stevenwoo 6 hours ago
28 points by stevenwoo 6 hours ago
Fascinating, if not surprising. I sometimes wonder whether China's firewall is a huge tactical advantage in distributed warfare like this. Open societies are vulnerable to this kind is manipulation, and I'm not sure what defenses there are short of also becoming closed societies. Russian corruption is infectious
Relatedly, I recently heard Dan Carlin (of hardcore history) on Sam Harris's podcast wonder how much of the current discord in the US is the product of Russian influence campaigns (and whether we'll ever find out)
> “From a doctrinal point of view, Europe is absolutely part of the theatre of conflict”
> “It’s a show of force, a way of taking off the mask and saying, ‘So, Germany, what are you going to do about it?’ ”
What should be done about it is to provide full, unconditional support for Ukraine; even better, close the skies and send an expeditionary force to help them push the russians out.
> Even if the war in Ukraine comes to a close, Russia will still regard Europe as a strategic adversary.
Ultimately, the best guarantee of European security is to ensure that Ukraine utterly defeats russia, and afterwards impose the equivalent of denazification on the population (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denazification).
That our European leaders refuse to do anything decisive is the absolute nadir of incompetence and cowardice. A political career should require real qualifications for leadership. What we currently have is a clownshow that leads to world wars.
While I _theoretically_ agree with you, what you are saying is not realistic given the current constraints.
> What should be done about it is to provide full, unconditional support for Ukraine; even better, close the skies and send an expeditionary force to help them push the russians out.
Sure, it sounds easy. And if it were easy, I'm sure it'd be done already. But - do we even have an efficient way of defending against drone warfare? Are we ready for eventual Russian response? Civilian victims in Tallinn or Warsaw? Retaliatory strikes that flatten what is left of Ukrainian energy infrastructure? How far would you be willing to take it?
> Ultimately, the best guarantee of European security is to ensure that Ukraine utterly defeats russia
One doesn't defeat Russia militarily, even if it weren't a nuclear power. The only way to defeat them is to sow instability from within, which is what they so successfully have been doing to us in the last 25 years.
> That our European leaders refuse to do anything decisive is the absolute nadir of incompetence and cowardice
What are they supposed to do? The far-right, supported by both Russia and the US, is already polling at 35% all over Europe. Any decisive action carries an enormous cost that will have to paid by the European population that is already feeling the effects of inflation.
As an example, the new Dutch government is introducing a special income tax, raising the pension age and taking billions away from the healthcare system in order to finance increased defence spending. That's the sort of compromises that pushes people even further to far-right populists, and that's without actually doing anything.
The alternative, to tax wealth instead of income, seems to be unspeakable.