There is no textbook on what to do. The US has a history of meddling in other countries’ politics during the cold war — and since. But Russia’s thinly-disguised intrusions into the 2016 election is the first time the US has clearly been the object of such attention. Moreover, the Russian bear is pushing at an open door. All Vladimir Putin needs to do to cause trouble is to sow doubt about the integrity of the US electoral process. Large numbers of Americans already suspect the November result will be rigged. So does Donald Trump, who is the first US presidential nominee to invite a foreign power to leak material that would damage his opponent. If ever US democracy was vulnerable to skulduggery that time would be now.
没有教科书教该怎么做。美国在冷战期间以及之后都干预过其他国家的政治。但如今俄罗斯对2016年美国大选几乎毫不掩饰地加以干预，这还是美国首次明显成为此类“关照”的对象。而且，俄罗斯熊正在推的是一扇敞开的大门。要制造麻烦，弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)只需让人们对美国大选的公正性产生怀疑就可以了。许多美国人已经怀疑11月的大选结果将会受到操纵。唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)也只需要这么做，他是首位邀请外国势力泄露会打击对手的资料的美国总统候选人。如果说美国民主什么时候容易受到蒙骗，那就是现在。