Europe in the microwave: how Putin is bringing our continent to a boil

One year after the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, almost nothing has changed in Russia. More than ever, the autocrat Putin is playing the card of repression, at home and abroad. In dark times, it is up to Europe to offer the light and break this cycle of fear.   

In Putin's early days, hopes for a pragmatic new leader for Russia still seemed high. The state system was modernized and ordinary Russians also benefited from a revival of the economy. Today we know better. At least 1,500 dissidents and opposition members are currently behind bars without pardon because of their political affiliation. Others died of deprivation in the Siberian tundra, inexplicably fell through a tenth-floor window or were aided by nerve gas or radioactive substances.    

That same terror Putin has been sowing for more than 1,000 days now in Ukraine, and by extension throughout Europe. The fact that Russia is paying a heavy price does not deter him. The total military loss already exceeds 434,000 troops, 150,000 of them killed.  Inflation is soaring, the rouble has plummeted, and economic growth is driven purely by a war economy.  

Yet Putin sticks to his strategy of fomenting fear. Not only in Ukraine, but also through rampant disinformation campaigns that, like a creeping nerve poison, seeks to paralyze our democracies from within, whether in Romania, Moldova, or Georgia. In Germany, 80% of voters fear that Putin wants to influence elections. We should also be concerned about the many attacks on utility or data cables all over Europe.                                                                                                                             

From our Western European perspective, we do not always feel the imminent threat from Russia, nor will the T-55 tanks enter the streets of Brussels tomorrow. There is no immediate threat of conventional war in the West, and yet not everything is peaceful here either.  The invasion of Ukraine also radiates onto us.                                           

Just like a microwave oven uses radiation to heat up our leftovers by creating chaos in the molecules, Putin is sowing chaos in the molecules of Europe. And as everyone has once experienced, a microwave oven does not heat up evenly. Take a bowl of soup, for example. At the far edges, it sometimes seems to boil, where the center heats up only slowly.                                                                                               

This process is similar to the current security situation in Europe. On our external borders, the boiling point has obviously already been reached, with a hot conventional war in Ukraine and hybrid warfare in Europe.  Sometimes even verging on the bizarre as when, according to French intelligence, Russia fanned the panic over the bedbug infestation in Paris to discourage tourists from attending the Olympics. But the hybrid warfare usually more serious consequences: the sabotage of utilities in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Poland, or Lithuania is not harmless, nor is the poisoning of rivers in Ukraine, arson in German warehouses or the disruption of French railroads. Not to mention the Russian shadow fleet roaming off our shores.   

The war in Ukraine is burning hot, but also further towards Western Europe, it is heating up due to various hybrid attacks, disinformation and spill-over from the frontline. Again, Putin's goal is to create chaos and destabilize our society. For some, however, this remains a distant reality that makes the conflict still feel cold. However, we can no longer talk about a new Cold War, but should address it as a Microwave War: boiling hot on the outside and while the inside still feels cold, it is gradually warming up. Europe cannot wait to be cooked along by Russian destabilization.  

Incidentally, the microwave oven, like the Internet, is an invention that can be traced back to a military innovation. In developing the Patriot missiles, a candy bar appeared to melt in the pocket of Raytheon engineer Percy Spencer during tests to develop a microwave-based radar system to defend London in World War II.     

Both economically and militarily, we must take more steps towards a strong position for Ukraine and for ourselves. The curbing of the Russian shadow fleet, proactive intervention in sabotage attempts in the Baltic Sea, a solid firewall against Russian cyberattacks, additional arms deliveries to Ukrainian troops, ... These are all essential elements in response to Putin.   

This week the Munich Security Conference convenes again, a place where world leaders meet about international security. Europe must take the lead there and forge alliances from a position of strength to put an end to this Russian interference and aggression as soon as possible. In this way we can turn the destabilizing radiation from Russia into rays of light and hope. For as Cohen also knew, “There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in.”   ​​​