Exposition
In this piece I will explore the global political challenge of security through the issue of “Allegations of Russian Interference in the 2016 United States Elections – An Issue of National Security on Democracy”. This refers to a series of covert activities carried out by Russian operatives to impact the anticipated US election. These activities included spreading propaganda and disinformation, hacking private computers, and releasing stolen information to the public.
The 2016 US Election was an extremely important event. Polarization was at an all-time high, as the tensions between the two largest parties had never been this divided. The Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, the former Secretary of State, was centered on promoting social justice, reforming American healthcare and fighting climate change. The Republican candidate, Donald Trump, was focused on “making America great again” by restoring America’s traditional values, reforming immigration and strengthening national security. Both Candidates had significantly different political values, visions, and policy positions. This led to an extremely divided populace, with many voters feeling strongly about their preferred candidate.
Donald Trump managed to win the election through the key swing states of Florida, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Despite that, this is the 5th time that the winning candidate lost the common vote. The Clinton administration was able to secure almost 3 million more votes than Donald Trump, yet through the electoral college, Trump won with 304 electoral votes compared to Clinton's 227 votes. Leading to mass criticism of the electoral college procedure, and mass protests critical of Trump's inauguration.
However, in January 2017, The CIA, FBI, and National Intelligence Agency released a report stating that with “high confidence” they believe the Russian government created a campaign to influence the outcome of the election. According to the report, Russia’s alleged aim was to sway the election in favour of their preferred candidate, Donald Trump, with the report clearly stating that “Putin and the Russian government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump”. Nonetheless, the Russian government was also suspected of aiming to weaken the credibility of American democracy as a whole. They achieved this by undermining the reliability and legitimacy of his opposing candidate, Hillary Clinton, and the Democratic Party.
This operation included hacking into numerous personal computers from Democratic senators to Hillary Clinton herself and stealing massive amounts of data, which included thousands of E-mails. They then released this information to the public, which helped spread false and misleading information about the opposition to voters, with the aim of changing public opinion. To further ensure Trump's chances, Russian operatives targeted the aforementioned key swing states, where they used social media platforms to promote pro-trump posts but also ones that were critical of Clinton. Russian hacker groups also took advantage of the Facebook advertising structure, where they were able to target specific demographic groups with political ads.
According to Facebook, 120 fake Russian-backed pages created 80,000 posts that were exposed to 29 million Americans directly, but managed to reach a much bigger audience by users sharing, liking and following the posts, which led the posts to reach a total of 126 million Americans. This played a large role in securing votes for Trump in the election, as these targeted ads were fed to older demographics that were likely to be conservative and rely on social media for news. Demonstrating the sheer power of social media in influencing public opinion.
However, the Russian government has denied any involvement in the interference and has consistently dismissed the allegations as baseless and politically motivated. The denial has been primarily emphasized by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who had presented the allegations as “fake news”, proofless, and an act of “witch hunt” against Russia, emphasizing that the accusations are a part of a broader anti-Russian campaign by the US government and the media. This belief was further spread by other political actors, calling the phenomenon an attempt at spreading “Russophobic” propaganda, with actions that are suspected to be aimed at undermining Russia's international reputation and taking attention off what the leaked e-mails contained (Ryabkov, 2017). Moreover, in a 2017 NBC News interview, Vladimir Putin had controversially stated that “hackers from any country are not working for the government.” He additionally took this chance to suggest that these accusations of Russian interference were a “false flag operation” conducted by the US intelligence in order to discredit the candidacy and election of President Donald Trump. Interestingly, when analyzing the perspectives of the US intelligence agencies and Russia, the two international actors have completely opposing views.
While Russia's reasons for preferring Trump to Clinton are still debated, this interference is still a clear representation of Realism in politics—specifically structural Realism, pioneered by John Mearsheimer. The theory proclaims that states are driven by the pursuit of power and security in an anarchic international system, where there is no higher authority to regulate the behaviour and actions of a state. As such, countries are constantly seeking to maximize their relative power and security compared to other states. In this case, the interference is a clear act by Russia to negatively impact the US’s security and power over domestic affairs. Leading them to have more influence over the US, maximizing their relative power over global politics. This can be seen as a threat to the US’s position as a Global Hegemony.
Sovereignty is known to “characterize a state’s independence, its control over territory and its ability to govern itself.” However, this case more prominently relates to the concept of Westphalian sovereignty. This concept is based on the idea that nation-states have the right to govern their own affairs without external interference. This principle has been a cornerstone of international relations since the Treaty of Westphalia was signed in 1648. By manipulating this election, Russia is unquestionably violating the US’s sovereignty, as they are altering the balance of power in a foreign nation, as well as involving a foreign government attempting to influence the internal affairs of another sovereign state. It highlighted the challenges that arise when nation-states attempt to navigate the changing landscape of international relations in the digital age, where traditional notions of territorial sovereignty can be undermined by the use of cyberspace.
Shortly after the interference was exposed the US took action, Obama signed an executive order to impose sanctions on multiple Russian individuals and organizations who were directly involved in the alleged operation, and this consequentially led to the expulsion of over 30 Russian diplomats from the US. Nonetheless, they did not stop there. 2 years later, the FBI took further action to indict 13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian entities that were incorporated into Russian surveillance and security. However, Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia, believes that these sanctions serve as primarily a symbolic gesture and will not have a profound socio-economic impact, it is merely to send a message to Russia that this clear violation of sovereignty will not be tolerated.
Foreign powers had also taken action, The European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and many more countries had condemned the acts by Russia and had taken their own steps to quickly identify forms of foreign interference as well as overall secure their democratic procedure. Russia's actions in 2016 as well as the 2014 annexation of Crimea have led it to being viewed as a threat to Western and Democratic power. With Russia no longer a part of the G7, the Council of Europe and The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Tensions between Western democratic states and Russia have risen, leading to the 2021 Ukraine War, where bilateral ties have been completely cut.
Conclusion
This interference was deeply felt by the public and has had various societal impacts that are still being felt today. The targeted spread of disinformation and manipulation through social media has led to the erosion of trust in democratic institutions and processes, leading to many people feeling disillusioned and disengaged from politics as they had been fed multiple versions of the so-called truth. This has led to an increase in polarization among the US and other states, where the public was questioning the authority and credibility of their governments. This has rendered policymaking extremely difficult as policymakers tend to be on extreme ends of the political spectrum, making it extremely complicated for corroboration and collaboration as their values and beliefs were entirely not aligned. A 2020 survey conducted by the Democracy Fund and the UCLA Nation's Cape Project found that 36% of Republicans and 33% of Democrats believed that violence could be justified if the other party won the presidential election, demonstrating how extreme polarization has become.
Security is a global challenge that needs to be attained in order for society to thrive. Security is multifaceted as it includes a range of issues related to the protection of individuals, communities, and states from threats to their physical, economic, and social well-being. This may include protection from violence such as war, crime, and terrorism. However, it also includes modern issues of climate change, cyberwar, and pandemics. Relating to this political issue, security has clearly been affected by the violations of sovereignty by the Russian government. Cyberattacks, public manipulation, and election interference have all played a large role in undermining the security of the United States.
The incident raises critical questions about the state of democracy, in our heavily interconnected modern world. For a foreign power to directly infringe on people's rights to elect their leader in a democratic, fair, and objective election is unprecedented. Our society may be heading to a world where disinformation runs rampant, making election interference extremely common. This will weaken our democratic institutions, erode public trust and threaten national security. This is why all democratic countries need to take the initiative in finding ways to limit this manipulation from occurring in the future. This is not the only incident where Russia has done this, with allegations surrounding the 2017 French elections, the 2018 Mexican election, as well as the 2019 European Parliament election and with Tensions between Russia and Democratic states at an all-time high, this interference is likely to reoccur. The time for action against this war on democracy is now.
In this piece I will explore the global political challenge of security through the issue of “Allegations of Russian Interference in the 2016 United States Elections – An Issue of National Security on Democracy”. This refers to a series of covert activities carried out by Russian operatives to impact the anticipated US election. These activities included spreading propaganda and disinformation, hacking private computers, and releasing stolen information to the public.
The 2016 US Election was an extremely important event. Polarization was at an all-time high, as the tensions between the two largest parties had never been this divided. The Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton, the former Secretary of State, was centered on promoting social justice, reforming American healthcare and fighting climate change. The Republican candidate, Donald Trump, was focused on “making America great again” by restoring America’s traditional values, reforming immigration and strengthening national security. Both Candidates had significantly different political values, visions, and policy positions. This led to an extremely divided populace, with many voters feeling strongly about their preferred candidate.
Donald Trump managed to win the election through the key swing states of Florida, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Despite that, this is the 5th time that the winning candidate lost the common vote. The Clinton administration was able to secure almost 3 million more votes than Donald Trump, yet through the electoral college, Trump won with 304 electoral votes compared to Clinton's 227 votes. Leading to mass criticism of the electoral college procedure, and mass protests critical of Trump's inauguration.
However, in January 2017, The CIA, FBI, and National Intelligence Agency released a report stating that with “high confidence” they believe the Russian government created a campaign to influence the outcome of the election. According to the report, Russia’s alleged aim was to sway the election in favour of their preferred candidate, Donald Trump, with the report clearly stating that “Putin and the Russian government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump”. Nonetheless, the Russian government was also suspected of aiming to weaken the credibility of American democracy as a whole. They achieved this by undermining the reliability and legitimacy of his opposing candidate, Hillary Clinton, and the Democratic Party.
This operation included hacking into numerous personal computers from Democratic senators to Hillary Clinton herself and stealing massive amounts of data, which included thousands of E-mails. They then released this information to the public, which helped spread false and misleading information about the opposition to voters, with the aim of changing public opinion. To further ensure Trump's chances, Russian operatives targeted the aforementioned key swing states, where they used social media platforms to promote pro-trump posts but also ones that were critical of Clinton. Russian hacker groups also took advantage of the Facebook advertising structure, where they were able to target specific demographic groups with political ads.
According to Facebook, 120 fake Russian-backed pages created 80,000 posts that were exposed to 29 million Americans directly, but managed to reach a much bigger audience by users sharing, liking and following the posts, which led the posts to reach a total of 126 million Americans. This played a large role in securing votes for Trump in the election, as these targeted ads were fed to older demographics that were likely to be conservative and rely on social media for news. Demonstrating the sheer power of social media in influencing public opinion.
However, the Russian government has denied any involvement in the interference and has consistently dismissed the allegations as baseless and politically motivated. The denial has been primarily emphasized by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who had presented the allegations as “fake news”, proofless, and an act of “witch hunt” against Russia, emphasizing that the accusations are a part of a broader anti-Russian campaign by the US government and the media. This belief was further spread by other political actors, calling the phenomenon an attempt at spreading “Russophobic” propaganda, with actions that are suspected to be aimed at undermining Russia's international reputation and taking attention off what the leaked e-mails contained (Ryabkov, 2017). Moreover, in a 2017 NBC News interview, Vladimir Putin had controversially stated that “hackers from any country are not working for the government.” He additionally took this chance to suggest that these accusations of Russian interference were a “false flag operation” conducted by the US intelligence in order to discredit the candidacy and election of President Donald Trump. Interestingly, when analyzing the perspectives of the US intelligence agencies and Russia, the two international actors have completely opposing views.
While Russia's reasons for preferring Trump to Clinton are still debated, this interference is still a clear representation of Realism in politics—specifically structural Realism, pioneered by John Mearsheimer. The theory proclaims that states are driven by the pursuit of power and security in an anarchic international system, where there is no higher authority to regulate the behaviour and actions of a state. As such, countries are constantly seeking to maximize their relative power and security compared to other states. In this case, the interference is a clear act by Russia to negatively impact the US’s security and power over domestic affairs. Leading them to have more influence over the US, maximizing their relative power over global politics. This can be seen as a threat to the US’s position as a Global Hegemony.
Sovereignty is known to “characterize a state’s independence, its control over territory and its ability to govern itself.” However, this case more prominently relates to the concept of Westphalian sovereignty. This concept is based on the idea that nation-states have the right to govern their own affairs without external interference. This principle has been a cornerstone of international relations since the Treaty of Westphalia was signed in 1648. By manipulating this election, Russia is unquestionably violating the US’s sovereignty, as they are altering the balance of power in a foreign nation, as well as involving a foreign government attempting to influence the internal affairs of another sovereign state. It highlighted the challenges that arise when nation-states attempt to navigate the changing landscape of international relations in the digital age, where traditional notions of territorial sovereignty can be undermined by the use of cyberspace.
Shortly after the interference was exposed the US took action, Obama signed an executive order to impose sanctions on multiple Russian individuals and organizations who were directly involved in the alleged operation, and this consequentially led to the expulsion of over 30 Russian diplomats from the US. Nonetheless, they did not stop there. 2 years later, the FBI took further action to indict 13 Russian nationals and 3 Russian entities that were incorporated into Russian surveillance and security. However, Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia, believes that these sanctions serve as primarily a symbolic gesture and will not have a profound socio-economic impact, it is merely to send a message to Russia that this clear violation of sovereignty will not be tolerated.
Foreign powers had also taken action, The European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and many more countries had condemned the acts by Russia and had taken their own steps to quickly identify forms of foreign interference as well as overall secure their democratic procedure. Russia's actions in 2016 as well as the 2014 annexation of Crimea have led it to being viewed as a threat to Western and Democratic power. With Russia no longer a part of the G7, the Council of Europe and The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Tensions between Western democratic states and Russia have risen, leading to the 2021 Ukraine War, where bilateral ties have been completely cut.
Conclusion
This interference was deeply felt by the public and has had various societal impacts that are still being felt today. The targeted spread of disinformation and manipulation through social media has led to the erosion of trust in democratic institutions and processes, leading to many people feeling disillusioned and disengaged from politics as they had been fed multiple versions of the so-called truth. This has led to an increase in polarization among the US and other states, where the public was questioning the authority and credibility of their governments. This has rendered policymaking extremely difficult as policymakers tend to be on extreme ends of the political spectrum, making it extremely complicated for corroboration and collaboration as their values and beliefs were entirely not aligned. A 2020 survey conducted by the Democracy Fund and the UCLA Nation's Cape Project found that 36% of Republicans and 33% of Democrats believed that violence could be justified if the other party won the presidential election, demonstrating how extreme polarization has become.
Security is a global challenge that needs to be attained in order for society to thrive. Security is multifaceted as it includes a range of issues related to the protection of individuals, communities, and states from threats to their physical, economic, and social well-being. This may include protection from violence such as war, crime, and terrorism. However, it also includes modern issues of climate change, cyberwar, and pandemics. Relating to this political issue, security has clearly been affected by the violations of sovereignty by the Russian government. Cyberattacks, public manipulation, and election interference have all played a large role in undermining the security of the United States.
The incident raises critical questions about the state of democracy, in our heavily interconnected modern world. For a foreign power to directly infringe on people's rights to elect their leader in a democratic, fair, and objective election is unprecedented. Our society may be heading to a world where disinformation runs rampant, making election interference extremely common. This will weaken our democratic institutions, erode public trust and threaten national security. This is why all democratic countries need to take the initiative in finding ways to limit this manipulation from occurring in the future. This is not the only incident where Russia has done this, with allegations surrounding the 2017 French elections, the 2018 Mexican election, as well as the 2019 European Parliament election and with Tensions between Russia and Democratic states at an all-time high, this interference is likely to reoccur. The time for action against this war on democracy is now.