Chuck Darwin<p>Applebaum turns her gaze to Gerhard <a href="https://c.im/tags/Schr%C3%B6der" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Schröder</span></a>, German chancellor between 1998 and 2005. </p><p>Since then, he has worked for Nord Stream, Rosneft and Gazprom <br>– all Russian. </p><p>Now 80, he has chaired the shareholder committee of Nord Stream, <br>reportedly earning around $270,000 a year. </p><p>He also led the supervisory board of Nord Stream 2, now shuttered.</p><p>He is unapologetic. <br>In February 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine, he told the New York Times: </p><p>“I don’t do mea culpa, it’s not my thing.”</p><p>Applebaum also discusses so-called “hybrid states”, <br>which she characterizes as countries that are a <br>“legitimate part of the international financial system” and possess many of the trappings of democracy <br>but that are “also willing to <a href="https://c.im/tags/launder" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>launder</span></a> or accept criminal or <a href="https://c.im/tags/stolen" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>stolen</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/wealth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>wealth</span></a> or to assist people and companies that have been sanctioned”.</p><p>She points to the <a href="https://c.im/tags/United" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>United</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Arab" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Arab</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Emirates" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Emirates</span></a> and <a href="https://c.im/tags/Turkey" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Turkey</span></a>. </p><p>“Russian property purchases in the Emirates rose 100% after the invasion of Ukraine,” she writes.</p><p>Not surprisingly, Applebaum lauds patriotism but fears nationalism and isolationism. </p><p>By such metrics, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Brexit" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Brexit</span></a> was a bust.</p><p>“Did the removal of Britain from the European Union give the British more power to shape the world?” Applebaum asks.</p><p>The answer is self-evident.</p><p>“Did it prevent foreign money from shaping UK politics?”</p><p>Want a hint? Evgeny Lebedev, son of Alexander Lebedev, a Russian oligarch and ex-KGB agent, is now <a href="https://c.im/tags/Lord" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Lord</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Lebedev" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Lebedev</span></a> of Hampton and Siberia, neatly ensconced in parliament.</p><p>“Did it stop refugees from moving from the war zones of the Middle East to Britain? <br>It did not.”</p><p>Nigel <a href="https://c.im/tags/Farage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Farage</span></a>’s dream has left the UK worse for wear. Farage’s admiration for Putin is a feature, not a bug.</p><p>“I said I disliked him as a person,” Farage recently said of the Russian president, <br>while campaigning for election as an MP. </p><p>“But I admired him as a political operator because he’s managed to take control of running Russia.”</p><p> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Russian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Russian</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/China" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>China</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Iran" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Iran</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/North" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>North</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Korea" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Korea</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Brics" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Brics</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Kasowitz" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Kasowitz</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Putin" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Putin</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Xi" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Xi</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/gas" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>gas</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/pipeline" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>pipeline</span></a></p>