When WikiLeaks dumped tens of thousands of often embarrassing internal Democratic Party emails, it didn't take long for the finger to be pointed at Moscow.
In many ways, that should hardly be surprising. The distinctly idiosyncratic dynamic between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has long been a topic of fascination for pundits. Some of the Republican presidential candidate's approaches and statements — particularly questioning the U.S. commitment to NATO — are almost certainly appealing to Moscow.
The Russian intelligence services have a largely deserved reputation for excellence when it comes to cyberspying, not to mention dirty political tricks. And, perhaps most importantly of all, a growing number of Western officials and security experts are increasingly convinced that Russia is doing everything it can to politically destabilize the West.