**TL;DR - Russia has meddled in past elections in both the U.S. and Europe to undermine democracy; therefore, the U.S. should combat fire with fire to send a message across.** It is no secret that Russia and Iran interfered in the [U.S. elections in 2020]( https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-security-idUSKCN1UI1XW), and this comes as no surprise as they also meddled in the 2016 elections. Although Russian was not explicit nor direct in its interference in the voting process, they relied on a lot of mudslinging and disinformation. It's not rare for Russia to interfere in elections; they meddled in the [the 2017 French Presidential election,]( https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/5/15564532/macron-email-leak-russia-hacking-campaign-4chan) [the 2016 Brexit referendum,]( https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/election-watchdog-launches-probe-into-russian-meddling-in-brexit-vote-a3674251.html) [The 2018 U.S. midterm elections,]( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_electoral_intervention#2016_Brexit_referendum_(by_Russia,_United_States,_Saudi_Arabia)) [and Ukrainian elections in more than one occasion.]( https://www.csis.org/blogs/technology-policy-blog/russia-ramps-global-elections-interference-lessons-united-states) The intelligence community has concluded that in both 2016 and 2020 Putin's government was trying not just to elect Donald Trump but to sow distrust in the U.S. political system. Second, elections are just one of the many things Putin's government gets away with. No matter what Russia does—poisoning a defector, sending aid to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the U.S. responds with sanctions, and that is clearly not proportionate and is [useless at deterring their behavior]( https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/03/19/will-bidens-approach-to-china-and-russia-work/). There are several policy responses the U.S. can do about this, like sending a daily text message to every Russian about Putin's corruption or simply making a list of all the things Putin needs for his regime's survival and threaten to hold them at risk. Whatever the approach, it's safe to say the U.S. is justified in doing something about this situation.

**TL;DR** - **Meddling in elections would more likely damage the U.S.’s global reputation rather than hamstring Putin’s regime.** Were the US to begin to meddle in other foreign elections, it poses a risk to their desire of being a home of democracy. Trump imperilled this during his four years in office by sowing seeds of doubt in electoral integrity whilst also furthering divides in an already partisan country. It is also important to note that the way in which Russia interfered is not easily prevented. The approach taken by Russia recalled their efforts in 2016 as they exerted an online influence to amplify mistrust in the electoral process. In an overview of the report, the following was said about Russian efforts during the election cycle: ‘Russia’s efforts were marked by extensive preparation and the use of trolls, agents of influence, and American influencers of the useful-idiot variety, with messaging amplified by online proxies and Russian official media outlets.’ Although the proxies employed by Russia can be identified, preventing the wider spread of the misinformation complicates the process of protecting the election. Once the information has become available online, even if it is only for a short period of time, it will be seen by users. Then it is just a question of how far it spreads before it can be removed. Russia was also not alone in interfering with the US election in 2020 as the NIA found that China, Iran, Lebanese Hizballah, Cuba and Venezuela all carried out cyber operations. Although this happened with varying degrees of success, it nevertheless points to an issue that is plaguing the US electoral system. Surely their priority should be to ensure the safety of their own election rather than meddle in others. I do think it is an important takeaway that, by meddling in elections, the US would be aligning itself with countries who do not have the same understanding of democracy. Just see Putin’s latest legislation which allows him to serve another two terms. To that end, were the US discovered to be engaging in election interference, it would undermine their reputation that they are trying to rehabilitate in the post-Trump era.

People actually believe that countries do not in some way always meddle in each others domestic politics?