The post-1945 world order is coming to an end, in no small part because of Vladimir Putin’s successful use of hybrid war, one of whose “most important components” is “the export of corruption” in the form of enormous amounts of illegally obtained money and the values underlying it, according to Arkady Babchenko.
“The world is changing,” the Russian commentator says. The post-1945 settlement is coming to an end and the world is moving toward war. “I fear that we are entering into an era of new global changes and a re-division of the world order,” in large part because of Putin’s hybrid wars and use of corruption.
At the present moment, Babchenko says, “Russia has again taken the course toward imperialism and again transformed itself into a xenophobic and aggressive imperialist country, only this time for the achievement of its goals, it is using not tank divisions but the subversive influence” of corrupt Russians who travel to other countries on a regular basis.
“Arriving in countries of the first world, they bring with them not only their money but also their worldview. They also influence the practice of business and politics in the societies of those countries which accept them. And what is still worse, [these corrupt Russians] then pervert them.”
The first result of this process is that people in Western countries “try to close their eyes to the origin of this [Russian] money, which in the overwhelming majority of cases was obtained by criminal means.” Then, because those who have it come to be treated as respected figures, some in the West then conclude the best and shortest “path to success” is theft and corruption.”
