A Soviet adage suggests Westerners play chess proficiently through the opening and middlegame, only to be overtaken by a surprisingly offensive Soviet endgame. In the days ahead, Russia might stage a come-from-behind endgame attack in the aftermath of the U.S. election, promoting division and doubt in our democracy by contributing to a false narrative that the contest was “rigged.” Americans playing through to checkmate will have to depart from our usual tradition of assuming that our civic duty ends the moment we cast our ballot.
Going into this endgame, Moscow is losing. With the voting process wrapping up on Tuesday, Russian interference in the election outcome appears to have been less effective in its tactical objective of reaching enough voters to stand a decent chance of influencing who wins.