Freedom House becomes suspect, and national security takes of tension, producing crises—such as Putin's return to precedence over the benefits of global integra- the presidency after his circumvention of term limits in tion. 2012—that require new crackdowns on dissent. e Foreign aggression: The revival of Russia as a Moreover, because these regimes do not allow military power has been a central goal of Putin’s peaceful rotations of power through elections, they leadership. He increased troop levels, devoted rely in large part on the promise of economic growth billions of dollars to equipment modernization, as a source of legitimacy. However, they also feature and instituted a series of reforms designed to systemic corruption as a means of maintaining inter- enable the military to engage in several limited nal cohesion. All of this leaves them ill-equipped to conflicts simultaneously. To compensate for the cope with economic shocks and related public anger. material advantages of the United States and The global economic downturn of 2008 and the more NATO, the Russian military developed a strategic recent drop in energy prices have shaken economies approach known as hybrid warfare, which seeks and political establishments around the world, but to combine conventional tactics, espionage and while citizens of democracies can take their frus- subversion, cyberattacks, and propaganda so as trations to the ballot box, authoritarian rulers must to limit the role of traditional battlefield opera- treat protests against austerity or unemployment as tions and, where possible, sow confusion as to existential threats. who is responsible for the aggression and how it should be dealt with. The strategy has been The promise of national greatness and the menace put into action in Ukraine, and intrusive Russian of external enemies are tried-and-true alternatives patrols have also harassed foreign navies and to economic prosperity as sources of regime legiti- air forces across North