Current democratic institutions were not designed to deal with the many problems our societies face today and are vulnerable to exploitation both internally and externally. Whether this is hybrid warfare involving cyber-attacks or misinformation, unprecedented events such as Donald Trump’s involvement in the 6 January 2021 attack, or Boris Johnson’s misleading of parliament in the Covid enquiry, they are vulnerable to deliberate misuse.
Democratic institutional reform is often slow and reactive rather than operating with foresight. Such weak points in modern democracies can be and are being deliberately exploited for personal gain or the political advantage of those who do not share their values. The inability of the US legal system to deal with Donald Trump’s claim of immunity from prosecution is a prominent example of old institutions’ inability to tackle issues that were unthought of when they were established. When the process of democratic checks and balances loses its stability through persistent undermining and interference, it is no longer capable of performing in the public’s interest but can be captured and misused for individual gain.
Authoritarian regimes can easily identify weaknesses in democratic systems. Countries like China and Russia, which have little respect for human rights or participative democratic processes and rules, are keen to exploit and expose the vulnerabilities in democratic societies. This can be done by spreading misinformation, causing division and disaffection among democratic voters. It can also involve using coercion and bribery to influence those in positions of power to undermine the system. These strategies are often echoed by right-wing parties across Europe. Demands from right-wing parties to abolish existing institutions make them a logical choice of partner for authoritarian regimes.
The risk to democratic societies
The infiltration of institutions and democratic processes through coercion and bribery is an effective means of undermining democratic processes. This week’s arrest in Germany of Jian G., the political aide to Maximilian Krah (a right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician and that party’s top candidate for the European Parliament election this summer), shows that there is high-level concern over the possibility of autocratic regimes applying such practices to infiltrate western political parties.
Authoritarian regimes such as Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are cooperating more closely, and their contempt for Western democracies is thinly veiled. Democracies are arguably too comfortable in their conviction that the status quo will not be challenged, and that the Western democratic way of life will always be the favoured system of government.
By undermining democracies from within, these autocracies can increase their global support. This brings their vision of a new world order closer to being realised.
Dissatisfaction with democracy
As China has shown, economic growth is not only achieved under democracies. This challenges the until recently upheld dogma that democratic government, with trickledown economics, is necessary to provide growth and stability. China demonstrates that strong dynamic growth and complex infrastructure programmes can be achieved quickly and efficiently with no active political responsibility for the individual required. For many in democracies, including far-right sympathisers dissatisfied with their current governments, this is preferable to demanding and slow democratic processes.
Donald Trump’s fantasy about being a dictator only for ‘day one‘ of his possible second presidency, underscores his admiration for the powers he perceives autocratic leaders to enjoy. It also offers an explanation of his appeal to his MAGA supporters. They include frustrated and disillusioned voters who dream of a ‘strongman‘ who promises to fix their problems for them. Democracies are demanding and offer no quick fix but need active participation. For many voters, this is too onerous. Thus, they are drawn to the often outrageously simple solutions that populists tout, irrespective of their likelihood of success.
There has been much debate about whether the present Republican Party, or indeed the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom, still represent the conservative spirit of their immediate past, for example under Reagan or Thatcher. These parties appear no longer to wish to ‘conserve’ the institutions they once adamantly supported but are more enthusiastic about demolishing previous paths of government.
That members of the GOP such as Marjorie Taylor Greene – known as ‘Moscow Marge’ – spout pro-Russian propaganda and are critical and deliberately obstructive of Western aid to Ukraine is indicative of how far the Republicans are from their party’s previous positions. Whether Greene is on the Russian payroll or not has not been established. However, this suspicion is itself indicative of decay and malaise within our democratic parties.
Evolving infiltration strategies
While it is nothing new that systems are corruptible, what is more novel is the approach to these undertakings. During the Cold War, there was an ideological and nuclear stalemate between the two fronts. Defectors, such as Kim Philby, were ideologically motivated individuals and not members of a political party with a mandate from voters and a role in government processes (albeit currently in opposition as in the case of the AfD or the Republicans). However, with the upcoming elections, where electorates have swung more to the right, authoritarian infiltration takes on a new and disturbing dimension.
The strategists in the Kremlin and Beijing are unlikely to have ignored this opportunity. Recent discoveries of ‘Chinese police stations’ in European countries and undeclared Russian funds among European parliamentarians, Germany’s AfD politicians, and the Russian bank funding of Marine Le Pen’s party, are possibly just the tip of the iceberg regarding foreign interference.
The 2019 report presented by the UK’s Intelligence and Security Committee explicitly rued the reluctance of the British government to explore the role of Russia in the lead-up to the 2016 vote, despite acknowledgement that similar interference had occurred in the Scottish vote for independence in 2014. The US government was more incisive when it addressed Russian interference and the spread of misinformation in the 2016 presidential vote between Trump and Clinton, and published the Senate report that unveiled this. This begs the question of where true government loyalties and interests lie – with the individual or with the nation?
The laundering of Russian dark money since the mid-1990s has earned Britain’s capital the disreputable title of ‘London Laundromat’ – ’the money laundering capital of the world’ – yet convincing investigations into this have been limited, begging the question of whether those who benefited and still benefit the most are reluctant to dry up this well of wealth. This includes not just parliamentarians, but estate agents, legal advisors and accountants, as well as other high-end service companies.
Sensitive information
Further undermining of Western institutions can be seen in the many hybrid attacks on Western universities and government ministries. It is an issue that has been observed for the past two decades in the European Union, the UK and the US. During the Covid pandemic in 2020, the BioNTech and Pfizer pharmaceutical companies – both developers of the Covid vaccine – experienced attacks on their databases which were confirmed by the European Medical Agency.
Universities have been identified as a potentially sensitive area, with relatively easy access to research in both the technical and scientific sectors. This week’s arrest of suspected espionage agents in Germany (Düsseldorf and Bad Homberg), where there appears to be an interest in military intelligence, exemplifies this issue. The hacking of databases is considered relatively simple and a call for tighter security has been made, to protect intellectual property and also highly sensitive information.
To protect our democracies, infiltration by external parties needs to be called out and penalised. The temptation for individuals to misuse and manipulate systems also needs to be addressed, and perpetrators punished. This process will be cumbersome and challenging. The first step is to be aware of our vulnerabilities. We need to acknowledge the consequences of inaction and the risks we face should we fail to defend democracy.
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