Vladimir Putin is trying to take down liberal democracy -- and he might be winning

In conversations with people who know Russia well, I’ve learned that in and around the Kremlin, many senior Russian officials genuinely believe that there is no significant difference between the American and Russian system of government. In both cases, obscure cabals of power-brokers and oligarchs vie for power behind the scenes, dressing it up as democracy and self-government. They look at Rupert Murdoch’s ownership of Fox News in the U.S., or the activities of the Clinton Foundation, or the influence of the Kochs on the right, and they see the same kinds of corruption they have at home. They see proclamations about “equality under the law” and the disparities of the criminal justice system, and see no difference between that and the Godfather-style scheme of government that prevails in Russia. They see a generation of young American men playing Xbox and getting fat on Doritos and see a civilization in terminal decline.

Where we see imperfections in a mostly good system, many Russians see a dark reality dressed up in a lot of propaganda. And who can blame them, when Hillary Clinton is lying about her health like a geriatric Soviet premier?

Instead, Russian officials believe in what we can only call “Putinism.” Putin isn’t just a regular strongman anymore. Around him, advisers have started to dress up his regime into an ideology that can challenge Western liberal democracy.