Gifted article [NYTOpinion]: Putin Sees America Hurtling to Disaster, With Trump at the Wheel Guest Essay. By Mikhail Zygar Nov. 19, 2024
..to many in the Kremlin, a Trump presidency might bring about the collapse of the American state.”
“The United States is confidently, firmly marching down the same path as the Soviet Union. [..] America is nearing its end.”
Russia has been trying to help.[..] an army of Russian bots and propagandists promote conspiracy theories, vaccine skepticism, anti-feminism, anti-L.G.B.T. sentiment and anti-immigrant rhetoric on social media. The aim is to deepen the polarization of American society and, eventually, break it apart. [..]
..in recent days the term “American Gorbachev” has gained traction in Moscow.
[..]
Of course, much of this is wishful thinking. Predictions of America’s imminent collapse have no basis in reality. The Soviet Union fell because it bankrupted itself under the weight of excessive military spending and imperial ambitions. Its economy proved to be unsustainable and ethnic tensions emerged, with some Soviet republics pushing for independence. Mr. Gorbachev, for his part, was a reformer within the ruling party who aimed to refine rather than overthrow the system. The differences with the United States and Mr. Trump should be obvious.
But that won’t stop the Kremlin from seeing what it wants to see: an America hurtling toward disaster, with Mr. Trump at the wheel.
