We are understandably cheery about our digital progress, and yet, behind regarding the dangers it can present. The current inflection point regarding AI, democracy, and its massive impact on how we see the world is pivotal. AI can deceive our own senses regarding what we see, hear, and feel. As the bad-actor manipulation of our senses escalates, is European security in jeopardy, or is it just another cruel deception?
Big business and big money politics from certain quarters are trying to tell us we are wrong about the Russian agenda. Subsequently, shameless abuses of AI in digital subversion campaigns to shameless deceptions in the physical world have a singular purpose. Their purpose is to rewrite our perception of the world. Their intent is to replace what is, with a version designed to favor Russia and her authoritarian public/private partners.
Ukraine Is Just The Beginning
I wrote last July about the covert threat building in the western democracies, which threaten to derail Ukraine’s righteous defence of their homeland. Signs of digital subversion campaigns in a nation unaware of such tactics have gone overlooked until recently. Skilled digital authoritarians deliberately created these programs, ensuring their depth and effectiveness, making their presence in target nations a genuine threat.
Full spectrum of warfare doctrine has a definable and multifaceted flexibility to it. It scales alarmingly well, thanks to the delivery of weaponized false narratives over social media. Ukraine, as the former jewel of the Soviet Union, was to be one of the first stops by Putin, in a multiyear campaign of conquest.
Ukrainians, understanding the brutality of their former masters, mounted a righteous defence to this day. The United States celebrated the value-for-money they got for the effective destruction of Russian military power. In 2023, the Biden administration allocated 0.14% of US GDP to Ukrainian aid packages. There was an economic return too, as American weapons and mil-tech manufacturers benefited from a considerable size of the funding allocation to military aid.
For the United States, this is a cheap way to neutralize a genuine threat from Russia’s military. It is, however, not the full story from Russia’s perspective. Putin’s regime has invested in a huge gambit. This all-or-nothing bet will only seem reasonable to an authoritarian who has substantially mitigated the risk of failure.
Russia Rises Again To Threaten Democracy
Fierce Ukrainian resistance has so far weathered a storm of butchery from Russia’s criminal regime, but have Western democracies fared as well? The answer lies in what an 18th century French legal architect, Montesquieu, once said; “The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy.”
Russian-led hybrid warfare set out to exploit this very point in the manufacting of a new reality within target nations. The structure, precision and enablement of these campaigns have a live-off-the-land approach as they progress. They literally expand their information network and manipulate people via social media channels into becoming self-propagating ‘surrogates’.
This increases the reach, range, and potency of pre-designed false narratives, in order to cause social disruption, pro Russian discourse, and political instability. This cheap form of warfare is driving scaled perceptual changes in target nations around democracy and Russia’s place in the world.
Recently, the UK’s Mi6 boss, Sir Richard Moore, declared that the West is at its most dangerous inflection point for 40 years. That is a powerful statement coming from a reputable agency boss, who has a deep understanding of today’s threat landscape. Since 2022, I have noted digital clues, which support his position. In essence, our democratic values make us a target.
Let’s Assert Our Future As A Democracy
Russia has and will continue on this path, despite being marred by western sanctions as a nation. This has brought China, Iran, and, more recently, North Korea out of their ethereal woodwork. The support offered to their transnational partner shores up the impact of intense Russian failures in the 1st leg of a larger campaign of conquest.
Having someone tell us on social media that we are “defeated, hopeless, and overrun” is also part of this larger campaign. This is where societal disruption stakes its claim to our future, but only if we accept their dark narratives. Several US social media companies, with (Twitter) X being the most acclaimed, along with TikTok, are enabling this type of toxic interaction.
Politicians have, for many years in democracies reacted, using what they know from prior years of contention. While they do, their bias skips this new form of warfare with long-term consequences that are quickly mounting. Thanks to digital subversion success and a rapid escalation of Russian espionage operations in target nations, the threats are now becoming more visible. They range from mental health issues to national security threats like espionage, which also includes murder.
When we see Russian ships approach our shores, it’s too late to maintain our way of life as we know it. Action starts with an individual recognition of the threat as an inherently personal one. Then, we can assert ourselves by seeking understanding, sharing that understanding with others, and thus assert a message to authoritarian tyranny. The message is simply this. We were asleep at our own wheel, but now we are asleep no more.
About the Author
John is a versatile author known for his gripping fiction narratives in the thriller, action, and suspense genres. With a background as a journalist since 2016, and expertise in cloud technologies as an engineer; John brings a unique blend of storytelling prowess and technical acumen to his work.
