Worth remembering that Russia similarly backed the Leave campaign. Lest anyone draws the wrong conclusion: Russia doesn't support British sovereignty and it doesn't support the Labour Party. What it does support is British weakness.
In addition to Brexit and Trump, Russia backed Catalan independence in Spain, far-right Le Pen in France, the anti-establishment M5S in Italy, and far-right parties throughout Europe. Russia does this not because of ideological affinity, but because a weaker West is its priority.
Russia's multi-pronged attack on Western power, values, and institutions isn't due to disagreement on any specific issue (if it was, mending ties with Russia would be a simple process). Putin sees the West as the top threat against both Russia's and his own regime's security.
I don't want to overstate the success of this Russian campaign. Much of it was sloppy, ad hoc, and juvenile. To the extent it had an impact, it was by taking advantage of existing Western flaws, political polarization and ignorance chief amongst them.
The West has the world's 3 most advanced militaries. Its GDP is over 20 times higher than Russia's. It attracts far more international investment, tourists, and students. Given those advantages, the West's inability to stop these Russian attacks is quite frankly an embarrassment.
In conclusion, polarization is why a country with Canada's GDP can undermine the sovereignty of one Western country after another. Instead of using Russia's attacks to double down on the polarization, how about uniting in the face of a common threat?
