Skewed History Is Becoming a Global Superweapon

History, to those who do not write or read it, sometimes seems dry stuff. Yet in the current moment, the past rouses extraordinary passions. It influences politics and policies, and empowers nationalist governments. It has become weaponized. Consider some comments from a Russian, which landed on my own website last week:

Tens of thousands of such missives a week hit Western websites and media comment platforms, almost all of them written by trolls under false identities, and many of whom are on the payroll of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Some address current issues ­­— for instance, disputing allegations of Kremlin sponsorship of murder plots on Russian dissidents in the West, such as the poisoning of the political opposition leader Alexey Navalny. Many trolls, however, like the one quoted above, challenge the Western version of recent Russian history.