Russia's meddling in the U.S. presidential campaign was unprecedented in American history. Whether Moscow's intervention helped Republican Donald Trump win the White House remains unclear. Nevertheless, Trump's victory — and the Kremlin's enthusiasm for it — offers proof that the post-World War II era is over and that millions of U.S. voters support a broader international retreat from global integration.
Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to work toward "constructive cooperation" in a phone conversation on Monday. But although the two leaders are not due to meet before the January inauguration of the U.S. president-elect, that doesn't mean Moscow will scale back its political machinations before then.
The immediate effect of the Trump win has been to validate Russia's almost certain hacking of Democratic Party leaders' email accounts. So, too, Putin's slaughter in Syria, where the aim of his bombing campaign against the rebels opposing President Bashar Assad is to thwart a solution to one of the most pressing crises facing the West. The Kremlin is also backing the killing in Ukraine and financing right-wing groups across Europe with the same aim of sapping Western unity and resolve. Now Trump's election will embolden Moscow to step up such efforts to insert itself into global affairs, which boost Putin's authoritarian control at home by enabling him to portray himself as a restorer of Russian greatness.