Democracies are a relatively new invention; many have only been around for just over 100 years. Some like America have been around a little longer, but in the history of mankind they rank as veritably juvenile. Democracies are by no means perfect, but they have offered millions a high standard of living and relative peace and prosperity. This status quo is more than ever under threat as autocracies and other forms of power are eroding democracies both from within and from the outside.
Crypto currencies
The introduction of crypto currencies affords digital payments through a blockchain. These transactions are cleared over a decentralised ledger that allows users to trade with relative anonymity. The trade is registered on the blockchain, but the actor behind the transaction can be left unrevealed. This means that donations to political parties can be made with anonymity – a loud invite for anyone wishing to destablise democratic societies by donating money to parties that have a more flexible moral agenda.
Right-wing parties, and to some extent left-wing parties, such as Bundnis Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) – a Russian friendly party in Germany, have been rumoured to have benefitted from such opaque donations. Nigel Farage has already expressed his willingness for Reform to accept crypto donations.
Similarly, in the US, the Trump family have been heavily involved in creating crypto currency funds such as World Liberty Financial. A fund that was co-founded by the president’s family with Zach Witkoff, the son of Trump’s special envoy and real estate magnate friend Steve Witkoff. The very man who has had recent one on ones with Vladimir Putin. Such crypto funds have drawn huge investments from the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia – a country not known for its democratic leanings or strong track record on human rights and civil liberties – but for its immense wealth and hence political leverage.
Thus, cryptocurrencies thanks to their non-transparent nature, offer a trojan horse for states that are hostile to democratic countries and who wish to undermine them. This is an irrefutable weakness. Donald Trump’s propensity for self-enrichment and his newfound fondness for cryptocurrencies is an obvious example of potential corruption at the very top one of the world’s oldest democracies. Once Trump was dismissive of crypto calling it a “scam”. Now the US president and his family are believed to have earned over $2bn through meme coins and other crypto deals. “Scam” or “no scam”, it’s certainly been lucrative and thus evidently found Mr.Trump’s approval and lined his pockets handsomely.
Software dominance – Palantir, PayPal et al.
The innovation of software that has made Silicon Valley tech bros astronomically wealthy and thus stratospherically influential in political circles is a similar worrying development. Whether we examine the sudden rise and fall of Elon Musk’s political career, or the meteoric rise of JD Vance to Vice President under the mentoring eye of Peter Thiel, it is undeniable just how cosy these monetarised political relationships are. It is unlikely that the vast amounts of political donations, by either Thiel or Musk in the lead up to Donald Trump’s second presidency, were given out of any form of selflessness.
Musk’s government contracts such as Space X are still a pillar of his immense wealth regardless of Tesla’s fortunes. Peter Thiel’s Palantir software company has its tentacles reaching into all forms of government agencies, both in the US and abroad, and the data being gathered is a veritable form of currency in its own right. ‘Currency’ meaning the information it can derive from the data it gathers from individuals and government outlets. It is a form of power that is unique, unregulated and seemingly limitless.
A pattern emerges that is Orwellian in nature. Software harvests information that enables those who have access to this data to influence and manipulate people’s behaviour as they wish. Their agenda is unlikely to be compatible to democratic practices as these processes could limit their power. Donald Trump glibly claimed before his second presidency, that perhaps the American people need not vote ever again. Technology tends to be way more dynamic and innovative than any democratic processes. Thus, democratically elected governments are automatically at a disadvantage and even more so when those who own these systems have an agenda to instrumentalise technology against democratic procedures. Those who control the software control the process.
The ‘old order’ is obsolete
The best form of defence is realising where your weak points are; only when we internalise this are we capable of making an honest and capable strategy. Democracies have many enemies – those agents within our societies and external actors who feel threatened by ‘free’ societies. Any serious adversary will have studied its opponent to define the best line of attack. Their biggest enablers are our complacency and self-inflicted naivety; it makes life for them so much easier as it presents a predictable almost reliable situation. They capitalise on our reluctancy and lethargy as they push their relentless agenda to destablise democracies forward. By not admitting to ourselves that we are vulnerable, and strategically ‘lazy’, we are enabling those who wish to undermine us.
The once so called ‘rules-based order’ is more than deceased. The warm welcome that Russia’s president received from Donald Trump in Alaska makes a mockery of international humanitarian law. It sends a message that these laws are redundant as they are not respected and will not be enforced. It encourages rogue behaviour and leaves us with no moral framework – this message is resoundingly clear. Promises of future “mega business deals”, where self-enrichment is a stronger motivator than any ethics or morals is blazingly evident. What instruments do we have to fight such a development? It isn’t enough to complain that this isn’t how any previous American presidents would have behaved. The moral bankruptcy is touted deliberately and wilfully.
The ‘system’ has been undermined
Democracies of the post-World War 2 system and post-Cold War world has been deliberately undermined. Democracies have failed to recognise their vulnerabilities but have left themselves in a self-congratulatory modus convinced that communism had failed and capitalism won. Francis Fukuyama’s End of History and the Last Man got it wrong as Sergei Lavrov’s USSR (Union of Soviet Social Republics) t-shirt, sported in Alaska on American soil, bore testament to. The hatchet hasn’t been buried, and the irony is that the old guard in what was the USSR, are using capitalist greed to enrich themselves and corrupt the West. It is almost perfect in its irony.
Yet, as Zelenskyy travels to Washington to barter with an ever erratic US president, the old-world order Europe, including the UK, are still unwilling to face the reality that we can no longer rely on the old patronage offered by America. Instead of admitting our new reality we are desperate to read some positive signs from a man who is only consistent in his inconsistencies. This lack of honesty cripples our chances of a decisive strategy, and this plays into Moscow’s hands. We need to be less predictable and less passive.
What to do
Ukraine, who has fought valiantly for the past three and a half years, has a realistic understanding of what is at stake as do the Baltic countries and Poland who know what Russian occupation means. We, in the rest of Europe, need to start playing Putin at his own game and not act from some sort of moral higher ground; expose his weaknesses instead of trying to appease him or by granting him time to regroup. Play the China card more openly towards Trump’s administration; highlight the paradox that he treats Russia as an ally and yet his declared enemy China is instrumental in aiding Russian advances.
Why isn’t this irony stated louder and clearer by the Democrats, the West and all those who fear a dissolution of democratic states? China, by supporting Russia, has access to much wanted natural resources and is ridiculing America’s hegemony by parodying Trump through Putin’s antics. Why is there so little emphasis on this agonising pantomime of how Putin plays Trump like a fiddle? Are we still hoping that America will demonstrate its strength as in years gone by? It seems unlikely that Trump even wants to fulfil that past role. His interests are not with a strong America, but with a strong financial legacy for himself and his family. Any other interpretation is wishful thinking and self-delusional.
Two sides of the same coin
We, in the West, are entering a new phase in world history and by pretending we are not, we are not protecting our own interests but enabling our adversaries. It’s time for more honest and uncomfortable examination of our lethargy if we wish to protect what we have come to think is a given. Peace and prosperity can evaporate quicker than they grew. The young democracies of the 20th century and the fate of their populations are strong witnesses to such dramatic developments. History can repeat itself and if we aren’t attentive to the lessons of humanity, with all its enlightenment as well as its barbarity, we will pay a similar price.
More on world:
Subscribe to our newsletters
Each of our Bylines sends a newsletter every month and we also send out a ‘Best of Bylines, featuring a selection of the best articles from across the network
