LEADER 03857nam 22006255 450 001 9910863184003321 005 20250610110613.0 010 $a9783030546021 010 $a3030546020 024 7 $a10.1007/978-3-030-54602-1 035 $a(CKB)4100000011401155 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC6321273 035 $a(DE-He213)978-3-030-54602-1 035 $a(PPN)259460184 035 $a(Perlego)3481382 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC29090755 035 $a(EXLCZ)994100000011401155 100 $a20200828d2021 u| 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcnu|||||||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aDemocratic Vulnerability and Autocratic Meddling $eThe "Thucydidean Brink" in Regressive Geopolitical Competition /$fby Mika Aaltola 205 $a1st ed. 2021. 210 1$aCham :$cSpringer International Publishing :$cImprint: Palgrave Macmillan,$d2021. 215 $a1 online resource (200 pages) 311 08$a9783030546014 311 08$a3030546012 327 $a1. Introduction -- 2. The Thucydidean Brink -- 3. Grim Pull of American Democratic Vulnerability -- 4. Russian Cyber-enabled Diversions in the West -- 5. Pattern of Meddling in 2016 US Elections -- 6. Stages of Digitalized regressive Meddling -- 7. Crowdsourced Meddling and Flow-State -- 8. Contrast Point: The Chinese Recruitment Web -- 9. Covid-19 Pandemic Deepening Regressive Trajectories. . 330 $aThis book investigates complex regressive dynamics in contemporary Western democracies. They include not only severe polarization in domestic politics, but also efforts by external autocratic powers to co-opt the increasingly digitalized political processes in the West. The discussion on democratic vulnerability and regression has rarely been historically and theoretically reflective. The aim is to fill this relative void by drawing on classical sources to inform about the political anxieties and agitations of our present time as the Western world moves towards new critical elections. The key concept of the analysis, a Thucydidean brink, refers to a critical point where the attraction felt towards an outside geopolitical competitor becomes stronger than the political affinity felt towards one's domestic political opponent. As political polarization, societal decomposition and the collusive tendencies grow in strength, political factions and political candidates in western societies can be(come) drawn to autocratic actors. Perhaps most alarmingly, the resulting nexus between democracies and autocracies can further intensify mutual regression and form downwards-sloping spirals that are not ultimately under any strategic control. This book draws from the experiences of recent elections in major Western democracies to illustrate the widening and deepening underlying regressive tendency. Mika Aaltola is Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, Finland, and Professor of International Relations at Tallinn University, Estonia. 606 $aElections 606 $aPolitical science 606 $aInternational relations 606 $aElectoral Politics 606 $aPolitical Science 606 $aInternational Relations Theory 606 $aPolitical Theory 615 0$aElections. 615 0$aPolitical science. 615 0$aInternational relations. 615 14$aElectoral Politics. 615 24$aPolitical Science. 615 24$aInternational Relations Theory. 615 24$aPolitical Theory. 676 $a301 676 $a320 700 $aAaltola$b Mika$4aut$4http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut$01741111 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910863184003321 996 $aDemocratic Vulnerability and Autocratic Meddling$94167097 997 $aUNINA