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Donald Trump was inaugurated President of the United States almost exactly a year and a half ago, as of this writing. For the vast majority of that time, a dark cloud has hung over the Trump administration: alleged collusion between Republican party officials, Trump campaign staff, or even the Trump himself and the malicious Russian agents. In May of 2017, Robert Mueller was appointed as special council for the Department of Justice to investigate Russian interference with the 2016 Presidential Election and U.S. citizens’ collusion therewith.

Democrats have been quick to cast pretty much everyone tied to Trump as living under the Russian thumb, especially after Trump’s recent closed-door meeting with Vladimir Putin. At best, those accusations are just that Trump and Republicans are being manipulated by Putin. This New York Times opinion piece by a former CIA officer and current Texas congressman suggests that Trump “[played] into Vladimir Putin’s hands” and therefore “actively participated in a Russian disinformation campaign that legitimized Russian denial [of the campaign] and weakened the credibility of the United States to both our friends and foes abroad.”

Republicans, in their turn, have supported the administration as much as possible. It hasn’t gone well in some cases, such as when Republican Senate nominee Corey Stewart claimed that Trump is “standing up” to Russia, only to be interrupted by raucous laughter not only from his Democratic opponent, but also the audience.

Neo-confederate Republican Corey Stewart gets laughed at by Tim Kaine and the entire audience at the #VASen debate after his embarrassing claim that Donald Trump "is standing up to the Russians." pic.twitter.com/DzfF0agRHK

— Adam Best (@adamcbest) July 21, 2018

Other Republicans, however, believe they see the writing on the wall for the Trump administration. Republican Christine Todd Whitman, for example, wrote in an LA Times opinion piece:

Trump’s turn toward Russia is indefensible. I am a lifelong Republican. I have campaigned and won as a member of the party, and I have served more than one Republican president. My Republican colleagues — once rightfully critical of President Obama’s engagement strategy with Russian leader Vladimir Putin — have to end their willful ignorance of the damage Trump is doing both domestically and internationally. We must put aside the GOP label, as hard as that may be, and demonstrate the leadership our country needs by calling on the president to step down.

Yes, you read that right, a former Republican governor, believes that Republicans should call on Trump to resign office. also called on Trump’s advisors to resignA South Carolina congressman has over Trump’s Russia policy if Trump won’t listen to their advice.

Most Trump fans outside the political arena believe that the accusations of Russian collusion are, pardon the pun, trumped up. They believe such accusations are meant to discredit the president by antagonistic rivals, jealous insiders, or cowards afraid of The Donald’s swamp-draining. It is not the purpose of this post to agree or disagree with Trump fans or Trump enemies. Rather, I wish to examine briefly the question of Russian collusion not from the perspective of the United States, but instead from the perspective of Russia. So let’s tackle the question of election interference instead of collusion by United States officials.

The first question we should consider is this: Why would Russia––and Putin and particular––want to interfere in the United States electoral process? What motivates him? According to experts of modern Russian history, a lot. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the world of the average Russian citizen collapsed. The nation that they had believed was so strong, so mighty, and so much superior to the United States had failed spectacularly. The economic system that they had been taught to hate, capitalism, had triumphed over communism.

When the free market came to Russia, it did so on the foundations of a corrupted, failed economy. The rising tide of capitalism did not, as a result, raise all ships. Instead, Russians were exposed to a capitalist economy that was every bit as bad as they had been indoctrinated to believe. Russians who could travel outside the former Soviet Union found that even lower-class French, British, or Americans had it far better than upper class Soviet citizens.

The suffering of the post-collapse period  explains Putin’s rise to power nearly two decades ago. Russians were nostalgic for the days of world power, they were angry at their losses, and they were resentful of the United States and the West. They were exposed to an abusive economy and given more choice than they had known in their lifetimes. They wanted, in short, the old ways back. Putin promised those old ways,

Putin therefore relies on maligning the West to perpetuate his popularity and power. He seeks to prove that the West is not as great as Russia. Russia’s military is far from capable of handling the United States military. In 2013, before Russia annexed Crimea, a Russian general wrote of a new kind of warfare emerging the new millennium: “the enemy’s economy and state command-and-control system will be the priority targets. Besides traditional spheres of armed struggle, the information sphere and space will be actively involved. Countering communications, reconnaissance and navigation systems will play a special role.” I have emphasized “the information sphere” and “countering communications” because I think that’s what many of us have forgotten as the Mueller investigations go on.

According to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, U.S. intelligence has observed “persistent Russian efforts using social media, sympathetic spokespeople and other fronts to sow discord and divisiveness amongst the American people, though not necessarily focused on specific politicians or political campaigns.” Why are Russians doing this? To solidify their internal power. Sewing discord among the Americans allows Russian leaders to juxtapose themselves with Western leaders, to cultivate an external enemy to unite the people against, and to weaken the U.S. so that they can reenter the international sphere as a superpower.

And what’s worse, while U.S. citizens let the Russian misinformation campaigns divide them, China quietly, slowly seeks to become the dominant force in the world. As an average citizen, you might think there’s not much you can do to fight these threats in a meaningful way. Don’t believe that for a moment. In fact, you are the only one who can fight what the Russians are doing.

It’s simple as this: don’t forget that the people you’re arguing with online are either your fellow Americans or malicious foreign actors. That doesn’t mean you should assume everyone online is a spy and enter a flame war with them. Instead, when you read something you think is crazy, don’t fly to the other end of the political spectrum. Don’t smear the other guys’ views. Don’t listen to any news you read without checking sources. Click through links to make sure you’re not reading a false story with bad citations. Seek out moderate, trustworthy sources. Start meaningful conversations with people you know personally from the other party. Treat each other like humans.