The Kremlin Playbook: Understanding Russian Influence in Central and Easter Europe; published by the Center for Strategic & International Studies
Via economical activities and the attempts to influence public opinion, Russia is continually trying to obtain its lost influence in countries of Central and Eastern Europe, which could potentially serve for a future redraw of current geopolitical map of Europe.
One of the main tools used by the Kremlin is the so called un-virtuous cycle. It is a process of economic infiltration of particular economic spheres or state apparatus through investments, provisions, and bribery, which will get bigger over time and hence, Russia will gain a large amount of influence over certain economic areas. When a particular economic sector is sufficiently infiltrated, it will directly affect concrete political decision-making.
If the democratic system is strong enough to resist, alternative approach is put to use. The Kremlin or its subjects can make a public announcement of corruption between certain politicians and Russian-held companies which will subsequently result in decrease of support of mainstream politicians and their parties. One of the temporary consequences is also an interruption of future Russian investing, nonetheless it is an exchange for the fact that people will tend to support extreme political parties that might potentially work with the Kremlin as well.
For effective defence against these efforts, Western countries should change and redefine their approach and long-term strategies at their very basis. For example, politicians should encourage the reinforcement of “financial intelligence agencies”, which would systematically focus on non-transparent investments of foreign subjects and potential corruption related to these activities.
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