Abstract

This chapter argues that a new Cold War was fueled by the so-called “Russiagate” scandal surrounding the 2016 presidential election in the United States. The campaign by Donald Trump was allegedly aided by shadowy Russian elements tied to the Kremlin, who used social media applications, leaks, and outreach activities to manipulate the election. The spreading of “fake news” via social media, Western media commentators claimed, might have been the tipping point for Trump to win an exceptionally close race against his competitor Hillary Clinton and become the 45th president of the United States.The chapter, however, argues that “Russiagate” largely omits the preceding US meddling in Russian and Ukrainian affairs, distorts the NATO military buildup in Russian borderlands and the NATO policy of integrating former Soviet-states in the Alliance, inflates the contribution of Russian firms while downplaying the massive funds and ad-spending of the Trump and Clinton campaigns, and omits the vast propaganda apparatus of the US national security state and its history of “psychological warfare” during the Cold War.