Even before Attorney General William Barr released a heavily redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, it was clear that Russia had interfered in U.S. elections. Now we have even more details of what amounts to a coordinated attack on democracy.
Mueller’s report detailed the well established disinformation campaign stretching back to 2014, as well as insights in to how Russian military officials hacked both Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee. But they also reveal previously unknown attempts that were successful in at least one case of hacking government websites — likely with the goal of manipulating elections.
As Mueller explains, ”We understand the FBI believes that this operation enabled [Russian military intelligence] to gain access to the network of at least one Florida county government.”
But even as lawmakers and citizens pore over the first volume of the report and news coverage of Mueller’s findings, we must not forget that the U.S. is not the only country Russia has attacked in this manner.
[Related: William Barr: Yes, Russia interfered, but Trump didn’t collude]
A report from the Atlantic Council shows that Russia engaged in significant attempts to interfere in elections in Ukraine (2014), the United Kingdom (2016), France (2017), and Germany (2017). In Ukraine, which Russia has long treated as a laboratory for its disruptive activities, election interference spiraled into armed troops and open war resulting in a yet-to-be-resolved conflict.
More recently, Russia attempted to undermine votes in Macedonia that would have paved the way for the country to join NATO. Although the vote was ultimately successful, Moscow’s attempt to keep the country out of the alliance again demonstrated how Moscow sought to exert influence and blatantly did so at the expense of another country’s democracy.
This interference, in the U.S. and elsewhere, must be understood as attacks. Although manipulation and disinformation might lack the flash of a military strike, they are no less destabilizing to governments and institutions that underpin democracies.
And like other forms of attacks, the best way to push back is with coordinated efforts among allies and the U.S., newly reminded of the danger of Russian manipulation, should be a leader in pushing back against Russian aggression and helping our allies do the same.
