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The Broken Record
Why Europe will never be able to confront Russian aggression
At first glance the challenge would seem both obvious and existential. For nearly twenty years, the Kremlin has been supporting extremist candidates, causes, and political Parties across Europe both by supplying funds directly (Le Pen’s National Rally in France, Brexit in the UK, AfD in Germany, Orban in Hungary, etc.). The Kremlin has been attacking European nations by persistent cyber attacks, by long-running and often highly successful disinformation campaigns, and by co-opting a wide range of organizations and individuals in civic society.
On the battlefield, Russia’s multiple invasions of its peaceful neighbors (Georgia, Ukraine three times) and its clearly stated and frequently repeated objective of conquering the Baltic nations, Moldova, and possibly also Romania (all of which are EU countries) means Europe is facing not merely the gradual overthrow of civic order but also probable military aggression. Therefore, given Russia’s many weaknesses (endemic corruption, feeble economy, inflexible command & control systems) and Europe’s many strengths, you’d imagine European leaders would have acted long before now to confront and defeat the existential threat Russia poses.
Of course, they’ve consistently done the exact opposite. To understand why, we can look…
