Damn Zionists.

I wouldn’t use the word ‘troll’, maybe ‘mask off’.

Edit: u/shittydwarf had “Threatens”, definitely a better word.

Agreed on the acceleration, sorry if I didn’t state it that way.

FSB helped set some fires thinking it would distract and divide, probably never imagined it become the firestorm of chaos it grew into. More tinder of racism than anyone expected, the winds of late stage capitalism feeding the fires for its own benefit like you put it. The disdain for education and media literacy coming to roost as there was no metaphorical firestop.

Putin, former KGB, is known to follow some of the global strategies called for by “The Foundations of Geopolitics”. One of the main strategies called out by the book is using disinformation to divide democratic countries internally, weakening and distracting from Russian power projection and consolidation of 'lost territory’s/sphere of influence.

Guy who knows espionage takes advantage of the worst American to divide USA internally and push away NATO. Not machiavellian genius, probably a lot more successful than anyone suspected because of said underlying issues.

From my PoV, Putin/FSB stirred the pot beginning in 2010 or so, setting up troll farms and disinformation propganda groups targeting US, UK, and other democracies. They put out all kinds of disinformation to divide and incite anger, latching on to what sticked (like anti-vax, ‘deep state’, brexit, economic woes, racism, etc). These were much more effective in the US and UK than say Ukraine or Baltic states, due to proximity and historical animosity.

Tldr, effective espionage that happened to find a weak spot, helped by narcissistic insiders. Not genius, just luck and taking advantage of existing cracks.