Moscow’s strategy to carve up Europe

By Janusz Bugajski, for CEPA Moscow’s strategy toward Europe is reminiscent of carving a hunted game. It exploits and exacerbates the vulnerabilities of targeted states, and widens any lingering disputes between them. The Kremlin has targeted at least four portions of the continent: Anglo-Saxon Europe, Western Europe, Central Europe and the Orthodox Balkans—with the remainder of Europe’s east to be directly devoured by Russia. A primary focus of subversion dating back to Soviet times is to drive a permanent wedge between the continental European states and the “Anglo-Saxon” countries—the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. Moscow views the former as more malleable, corruptible and exploitable, and the latter as more likely to challenge Russia’s revisionism. After a brief interlude following the election of Donald Trump, the Kremlin has refocused its sights on promoting transatlantic rifts. Its propaganda depicts the United States as a hegemon that limits the sovereignty of

Kilde: Moscow’s strategy to carve up Europe