March 9, 2018

Rogue state Russia must be punished

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“Russia is a Rogue State. Time to Say So,” by John P. Carlin, Politico, February 27 (https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/27/russia-election-meddling-rogue-state-217094):

…Vladimir Putin’s Russia is engaged in a low-intensity conflict not just against the United States, but against the civilized world, where commerce and prosperity are inextricably intertwined with digitally connected machines.

…Putin’s Russia is increasingly responsible both for indiscriminate destructive cyberattacks and for harboring cybercriminals who harm the global online economy. …

It’s critical the White House and U.S. government punish Russia. President Barack Obama created a mechanism to sanction states that participated in malicious cyber behavior and then used it, in December 2016, against Russia after its election operations. But more needs to be done – and the United States needs to take the lead. The most effective action is collective action.

The United States needs to partner with countries around the world to impose devastating economic penalties proportional to the billions of dollars of indiscriminate criminal cyber-enabled activities and for the repeated undermining of internal democratic elections around the world. The partnership of the interconnected world should also consider collectively closing Embassies and Consulates. …

Responsible countries cannot allow this behavior online to continue without response. Failure to act encourages worse and worse behavior-and not just by Putin’s Russia: Other rogue regimes are watching and wondering where the lines are for cyber aggression.

The United States must demonstrate to Putin that it will take public and proportional action to counter Russia’s malicious behavior online. …

It’s time to shut down Putin’s online chaos machine. The world must act-now.

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