This article is disingenuous at best. It attempts to portray Putin as extending only a hand of friendship ("reviving relations" ), when his real interest lies in having an America that will acquiesce in Russia's steamrolling its neighbors and regaining a sphere of influence from which other nations will be excluded. In fact, Putin is waging a new Cold War.

This quote in particular gave me a grim smile:

"This entire phenomenon stems from the stubborn denial by some Americans that we live in a highly globalised world, where the domestic politics of old sovereign nation-states are considerably less important than transnational political alliances that unite people on either side of the global political barricade."

Except that Russia, under Putin, is not seeking to "unite" with anyone, but to dominate, just as he currently dominates the relationship with Trump. Trump is a convenient foil and a convenient fool.

"Does this mean that when Jack Hanick - a founding producer of Fox News - set up the transnational media empire of the ultra-right, pro-Kremlin oligarch Konstantin Malofeev and helped to promote pro-Kremlin narratives in Russia and Europe, he was part of a conspiracy to keep Putin in power?" Yes. Yes, it does.

It's not "collective hysteria" when state-sponsored Russian intelligence actively attacked the DNC's cyber network for information they could pass on and leak. It's not "hysteria" when 3 intelligence agencies can examine the evidence and each declare that Russia took sides in the US election and set about tilting it toward Trump because Putin had a grudge against Clinton. And it's not "hysteria" when we know they've already done it again during the midterm elections and are preparing more of the same, and on a larger scale, for 2020.

This IS war. Putin has had his own citizens killed at home and abroad. He has attacked us in cyberspace. He has corrupted our election process.

What disturbs me most is how many Americans just don't give a shit because they prefer to believe Russia's lies. After all, those lies sound so much like Trump's lies, and his lies are so entertaining. And nobody liked Hilary anyway.

The hilarious thing is that the author's appeal for internationalism is one that neither Putin nor Trump would agree with, but I would... so long as we could get rid of leaders like Putin and Trump.