Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Introduction

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Democratic Vulnerability and Autocratic Meddling

  • 217 Accesses

Abstract

The regressive and polarizing characteristics of the digitalized political domains have received much attention. However, the discussion has rarely been historically and theoretically reflective. The aim is to fill this relative void through drawing from classical sources. The key concept, Thucydidean brink, refers to a critical point where the attraction felt toward an outside geopolitical competitor becomes stronger than the political affinity felt toward the domestic political opponents. As the polarization and decomposition of a democratic polity proceeds, democratic political parties and actors are drawn to outside actors that are seen as capable of providing help in the domestic struggle. The foreign powers are drawn to democratic weakness by strategic design, but also by opportunism as they try to co-opt and abuse the emerging vulnerabilities. The resulting nexus can further intensify mutual regression and form mutual downward-sloping spirals that are not ultimately under any strategic control.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    E.g. Marks et al. (2019) and Brady et al. (2018).

  2. 2.

    There are notable exceptions: for example, Paul Kennedy’s 1987 work, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, focuses on the economic and military drivers of the rise-and-fall narrative, but does not fully take into account the role of the cognitive and irrational dimensions in the overall process.

  3. 3.

    See, e.g., McMahon (2008) and Prysor (2005).

  4. 4.

    See, e.g., Mueller (2019) and US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (2018).

  5. 5.

    See, e.g., Kushner (2010).

  6. 6.

    See also Conley et al. (2016).

  7. 7.

    See, e.g., Vilmer et al. (2018) and Conley and Vilmer (2018).

  8. 8.

    E.g. Metaxas and Mustafaraj (2012).

  9. 9.

    See, e.g., European Commission (2018) and European Political Strategy Centre (2018).

  10. 10.

    For a seminal discussion, see, e.g., Wendt (1992).

  11. 11.

    See, e.g., BBC News (2016).

  12. 12.

    See, e.g., Doyle (2011).

  13. 13.

    See, e.g., Allison (2018) and Chan (2020).

  14. 14.

    See, e.g., Cioffi (2010).

References

  • Aaltola, M. (2012). Contagious Insecurity: War, SARS, and Global Air Mobility. Contemporary Politics, 1, 53–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aaltola, M. (2014). Flow Security of the Digital Age. In E. Brattberg & D. Hamilton (Eds.), Global Flow Security: A New Security Agenda for the Transatlantic Community in 2030 (pp. 63–86). Washington, DC: Center for Transatlantic Relations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aaltola, M. (2017). Democracy’s Eleventh Hour: Safeguarding Democratic Elections Against Cyber-Enabled Autocratic Meddling. Helsinki: The Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allison, G. (2018). Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?. New York: Mariner Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnes, D. (2000). Historical Perspectives on the Etiology of Tuberculosis. Microbes and Infection, 2(4), 431–440.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett, M., & Duvall, R. (2005). Power in International Politics. International Organization, 59(1), 39–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • BBC News. (2016). Clinton Health Myth: From Twitter Theories to a Trump Speech. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37090082. Accessed 5 November 2017.

  • Brady, W. J., Van Bavel, J. J., Jost, J., & Wills, J. A. (2018, September 28). An Ideological Asymmetry in the Diffusion of Moralized Content Among Political Elites. PsyArXiv.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, S. (2020). Thucydides’s Trap? Historical Interpretation, Logic of Inquiry, and the Future of Sino-American Relations. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cioffi, F. (2010). Overviews: What Are They Of and What Are They For? In W. Day & V. J. Krebs (Eds.), Seeing Wittgenstein Anew (pp. 291–313). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Conley, H. A., Mina, J., Stefanov, R., & Vladimirov, M. (2016). The Kremlin Playbook: Understanding Russian Influence in Central and Eastern Europe. Available at: https://www.csis.org/analysis/kremlin-playbook. Accessed 3 March 2017.

  • Conley, H. A., & Vilmer, J.-B. (2018). Successfully Countering Russian Electoral Interference. Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crowley, M. (2017, June 21). Why the White House Is Reading Greek History? Politico Magazine. Available at: https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/21/why-the-white-house-is-reading-greek-history-215287. Accessed 3 August 2019. New York: Routledge.

  • Doyle, M. (2011). Liberal Peace: Selected Essays. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2018). Implementing the Global Strategy: EU Delivers on Security and Defence. Available at: https://eeas.europa.eu/topics/eu-globalstrategy/47517/implementing-global-strategy-eu-delivers-security-and-defence_en. Accessed 20 April 2020.

  • European Political Strategy Centre. (2018). Geopolitical Outlook for Europe: Confrontation vs Cooperation. European Political Strategy Center. EPSC Brief. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/epsc/sites/epsc/files/epsc_brief_geopolitical.pdf. Accessed 4 November 2019.

  • Fukuyama, F. (2018). Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galilei, G. (1957/1623). Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo. New York: Anchor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibbon, E. (2010/1776–1788). The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Vols. 1–6). London: Everyman’s Library.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (1974). Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haukkala, H. (2020). Nonpolar Europe? Examining the Causes and Drivers Behind the Decline of Ordering Agents in Europe. International Politics. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41311-020-00257-1#citeas. Accessed 1 August 2020.

  • Hayles, N. K. (2006). Unfinished Work: From Cyborg to Cognisphere. Theory, Culture and Society, 23(7–8), 159–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huntington, S. (1965). Political Development and Political Decay. World Politics, 17(3), 386–430.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jamieson, K. (2018). Cyberwar: How Russian Hackers and Trolls Helped Elect a President: What We Don’t, Can’t, and Do Know. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, P. (1987). The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000. New York: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kushner, B. (2010). Treacherous Allies: The Cold War in East Asia and American Postwar Anxiety. Journal of Contemporary History, 45(4), 812–843.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lilla, M. (2017). The Once and Future Liberal: After Identity Politics. New York: Harper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macron, E. (2019, March 4). Dear Europe, Brexit Is a Lesson for All of Us: It’s Time for Renewal. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/mar/04/europe-brexit-uk. Accessed 12 April 2020.

  • Marks, J., Copland, E., Loh, E., Sustein, C., & Sharot, T. (2019). Epistemic Spillovers: Learning Others’ Political Views Reduces the Ability to Assess and Use Their Expertise in Nonpolitical Domains. Cognition, 188, 74–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mason, L. (2018). Uncivil Agreement: How Politics Became Our Identity. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McMahon, P. (2008). British Spies and Irish Rebels: British Intelligence and Ireland, 1916–1945. Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metaxas, P., & Mustafaraj, E. (2012). Social Media and the Elections. Science, 338, 472–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, R. (2019). Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election. US Department of Justice. Available at: https://www.justice.gov/storage/report.pdf. Accessed 10 April 2019.

  • Prysor, G. (2005). The ‘Fifth Column’ and the British Experience of Retreat. War in History, 12(4), 418–447.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thucydides. (1954). History of the Peloponnesian War. New York: Penguin Classics.

    Google Scholar 

  • US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. (2018). The Intelligence Community Assessment: Assessing Russian Activities and Intentions in Recent US Elections. Available at: https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ssci_ica.pdf. Accessed 8 June 2018.

  • Vilmer, J.-B., Escorcia, G., Guillaume, A., & Herrera, J. 2018. Information Manipulation: A Challenge for Our Democracies. Paris: The Policy Planning Staff (CAPS) of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and the Institute for Strategic Research (IRSEM) of the Ministry for the Armed Forces.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wendt, A. (1992). Anarchy Is What States Make of It: The Social Construction of Power Politics. International Organization, 46(2), 391–425.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wittgenstein, L. (1968). Philosophical Investigations. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wittgenstein, L. (1980). Culture and Value. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Helsinki, Finland

    Mika Aaltola

Authors
  1. Mika Aaltola
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mika Aaltola .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Aaltola, M. (2021). Introduction. In: Democratic Vulnerability and Autocratic Meddling. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54602-1_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation