The list of Russian grievances is long, but they can basically be reduced to two: The country is disrespected and denied its rightful place on the world stage, and Western democracies, and the United States in particular, have violated Russian sovereignty by promoting their ideological and political preferences for human rights and democratic political systems. In recent years, Russia has launched political and diplomatic offensives to raise Moscow's international stature and counter the Western assault on its political institutions. The effort has been waged with particular vigor in cyberspace, where Russia has worked to undermine Western democracies and challenge their legitimacy. The chaos, confusion and tumult that have engulfed the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump are testimony to the success of this program and should be ringing alarm bells throughout the West.

It is widely believed that Russia actively attempted to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Those efforts ranged from breaking into voter registration rolls — there is no evidence that they changed them — to hacking the accounts of senior Democratic Party officials to meeting with Republican activists and spreading disinformation during the campaign.

Of particular concern is the Russian government effort to use thousands of internet trolls and bots to spread fake news. According to U.S. experts, Russian hackers created fake social media accounts in key election states and precincts in the 2016 election, and then pushed propaganda from state-controlled Russian media outlets such as Russia Today (RT) or Sputnik. The accounts mimic those of voters from those districts to make them more believable. Stories from those dodgy accounts and sources would then be repeated by candidates and their surrogates in the mainstream media, allowing them to gain wider exposure and credibility. Trump's eagerness to parrot those tales gave them still greater currency and velocity throughout the campaign.