“Political War” 2.0 (USA vs Russia –To Be Continued)

The article reflects on the political war between the United States and Russia that started in 2022. The author concludes that in 2022–2023, the U.S. was maintaining a reactive and defensive approach to the conflict focused on safeguarding the American population from Russian influence by reactively deconstructing Russia’s narratives and discrediting its information sources. During the same stage of POLWAR, the concept of “domestic public diplomacy” was introduced in the United States in order to legitimize the extension of public diplomacy activities to American citizens as well as foreign audiences. In 2023–2024, the shift from reactive to proactive approach became noticeable with the U.S. building a network of alliances dedicated to countering foreign disinformation. At the same time, the American public diplomacy was being reformed in a way that enhances its effectiveness. Washington has also become more active in generating anti-Russian media-campaigns both with information and cultural instruments, revitalizing the old negative stereotypes about Russia in public opinion and portraying it as a villain in the Ukrainian conflict. To provide this approach, which is a preamble to the switch to offensive tactics, with a theoretical basis the “reputational security” concept has been developed. This concept not only elevates the issues of reputation to the category of national security issues, but also pushes for collective action in terms of protecting one’s own reputation and undermining the reputation of an adversary. Finally, the article analyzes the Trump administration public behavior towards Russia and Ukraine, its approach to public diplomacy institutions and counter-disinformation structures, as well as the general vision of American intelligence experts and the think-tanks loyal to current administration. The official conduct of the U.S. government towards the Russian Federation has become more decent, and the opposite could be said about the behavior towards Ukraine. The Trump administration has eliminated almost all elements of the system of governmental control over the internal information space, and tries to drastically cut the federal spending on public diplomacy. However, according to the publications of the U.S. intelligence and expert communities, the strategic vision of the American establishment has not changed much since 2022. It still clings to the idea of Washington’s global leadership and exceptionalism thus viewing the transformation of the world order as a threat to national interests. Since Russia, in turn, supports the rise of multipolar world order and endorses it with its foreign policies, the core reason for disagreement between two powers remains in place and so the POLWAR is likely to continue.