Table Of Content

RUSSIA’S WAR ON EVERYBODY i ii RUSSIA’S WAR ON EVERYBODY And What it Means for You Keir Giles iii BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018, USA 29 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc First published in Great Britain 2023 Copyright © Keir Giles, 2023 Keir Giles has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as Author of this work. For legal purposes the Acknowledgements on p. ix constitute an extension of this copyright page. Cover design by Adriana Brioso Author photograph by Munira Mustaffa All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without prior ermission in writing from the publishers. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have eased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. ISBN: HB: 978-1-3502-5508-1 ePDF: 978-1-3502-5510-4 eBook: 978-1-3502-5509-8 Typeset by Refi neCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk To fi nd out more about our authors and books visit w ww.bloomsbury.com and sign up for our newsletters. iv Th is book is dedicated to Vladimir Vladimirovich PUTIN with thanks for fi nally convincing the world of the depths of evil his country is still willing to perpetrate – and of the need to defend itself against them. v vi CO NTENTS Acknowledgements ix Preface x About this book x About the eyewitnesses xi About ‘Russia’ and ‘the West’ xiii About how we got here xiv Chapter 1 WH AT MAKES R USSIA D IFFERENT? 1 Why does Moscow behave the way it does? 1 Not on the same page 2 Same continent, diff erent century 7 Return to empire 9 Can’t we all just get along? 15 To understand Russia, suspend disbelief 23 Chapter 2 PO LITICS : WA RFARE BY OTHER M EANS 27 Propaganda at home 27 Th e war on history 30 Censorship and isolation 37 Cracking down 43 Getting poorer 46 Paranoia at home and abroad 49 Best enemies 51 Read the small print 59 Chapter 3 NE ITHER WA R NOR P EACE 67 Direct infl uence – Trump and Brexit 67 Subversion and infl uence 71 Infl uence and ‘soft power’ 77 ‘Active measures’ 83 Murder to order 88 What to do about it 91 Preparation for war 96 Chapter 4 WH AT THE R USSIAN AR MY IS FOR 103 Russia and its military 103 vii viii Contents Rebuilding the forces 107 How the West responds 110 Military intimidation 116 Ukraine 121 Keeping the peace 124 Chapter 5 NO BODY IS TOO U NIMPORTANT 131 Disinformation online 132 Suspending disbelief 137 Russia and the Western media 142 Targeting individuals 146 We called, but you were out 150 Nobody is too unimportant 153 Going global 158 Chapter 6 TH E WI LLING A CCOMPLICES 165 MICE and enablers 165 Money 170 Ideology 172 Compromise 173 Ego 174 London facilitators 178 France, Germany and the EU 184 Chapter 7 BU SINESS , S TATECRAFT AND C RIME 191 ‘Th e insurance will cover it’ 198 Choose your target 202 Putting it all together 205 Estonia 2007 – not just cyber 209 Th e Night Wolves 211 What to do about it 214 Chapter 8 WH AT C OMES N EXT 217 Danger signs 219 What can be done? 222 Coda 226 Appendix: Interviewees 229 Selected Reading 231 Index 233 AC KNOWLEDGEMENTS Th is book is built around real stories from real people, representing a tiny sample of the vast number of people around the world whose lives have been directly impacted by Moscow’s ambition to exert power wherever it can. My thanks go to the friends and colleagues, old and new, from over twenty countries who shared with me their sometimes very personal experiences of fi nding themselves on the front line of resisting Russia. But in reality, we should thank everybody, worldwide, working to protect themselves, their families, their societies and their countries from the harm Russia wants to do to them and to us. ix