Russia's interference in Western politics

An aspect, certainly not secondary, but not fully investigated, about the growth of extreme right-wing or populist movements in Europe and the United States, is that of possible Russian interference in Western electoral competitions. Since Putin has included in his political program the need for Russia to play a leading new role in Moscow, Moscow has implemented a policy to defend what it considers its exclusive space, corresponding to the geographical area of ​​the Union Soviet. The behavior of the Kremlin was aggressive, as demonstrated in Crimea, eastern Ukraine and other areas. Demonstration of military power, in contempt of any rule of international law, and obvious reasons of opportunity, was the means by which to implement this will. At the same time, internationally, Russia has become the protagonist of Syria's initiatives, which have favored the Assad regime and diplomatic strategies aimed at weakening the role of the United States and, in general, of the West. It was a very invasive tactic, which was successful in the country: a country used to play a major role in the international arena, as a superpower, and who did not like the second-tier role of Russia following the nation that constituted the communist empire. Putin has been able to awaken Russia's nationalist sentiment and this has allowed him to create a dampened democracy, backed by the popular vote, where the guarantee of rights is not fully assured. Moscow's initiatives have led to sanctions, which have put the Russian country in difficulty and have shown how the Western world is opposed to a rebirth of Russia in the Kremlin's ways. The actions Moscow has taken to counter the West have been to create cultural networks in favor of Russia directly in Western countries and at the same time pursue sabotage actions through computer networks. Along with these strategies, they chose to approach and probably finance political groups hostile to sanctions against Russia, and indeed favor Putin's government. On the other hand, those political forces, such as the Democratic Party of the United States, have been opposed, who in their programs kept and hold a contrary attitude to Moscow. The common factor of the movements and parties that are in favor of Putin is that they fall to the right side of the political ranks or stand out for a highly populist address and prefer national sovereignty over supranational organizations. In fact, the government of the Kremlin can not say that it holds a democratic attitude, restricting the freedom of the press and continuing to suppress the dissent; but what Putin likes is the perceived capacity to maintain order and a traditional social system that leaves no room for the instances of political and gender minorities. Moscow, through the influence of these movements, has tried, and probably in the United States, succeeded in influencing the foreign country's electoral competitions, altering the voting results. Even in Europe, this action has been seen, which has not yielded the hoped-for effects (not even in the US, despite Trump, Russia's aversion has diminished). There are heavy violations in foreign states, with the violation of state sovereignty this time, in violation of international law. One can not fail to point out that Russia, in the last century, an example for the leftist movements has now become a model for the right-wing and western populist parties, with whom it shares principles that are certainly not true of the West. For the European Union an extra opponent from which to look.