The recent designation of Sergio Gor as the United States Ambassador to India by the Trump administration was met in some circles with predictable cynicism, interpreted as a gilded exile, a reward for services rendered, or an elegant sidelining of a figure who had become cumbersome. This reading, while understandable through the lens of traditional political maneuvering, is dangerously superficial. It obscures a strategic reality of an entirely different magnitude.
Table of Contents
New Delhi: The Putin-Trump Pact’s Indian Outpost
Gor’s appointment is not the political execution of one man; it is a key maneuver in the planned execution of the European security order and the transatlantic alliance.
Far from being a mere diplomatic anecdote, this event must be analyzed as both a symptom and an instrument of the « gray war »—the permanent confrontation waged below the threshold of armed conflict through financial, informational, psychological, and political means. U.S. ambassadors are now primarily ambassadors for Donald Trump, from Paris to New Delhi.
Introduction: A Gilded Exile That Looks Like a Strategic Execution
This assignment to New Delhi is the culmination of a career and a method that belong to a specific genealogy of subversion. To grasp its significance, it is imperative to deconstruct the very concept of an agent of influence in the modern era.
The most effective agents are no longer clandestine spies operating in the shadows, but perfectly integrated political operators who move in broad daylight at the heart of the institutions they target. Their primary weapon is not microfilm or poison, but access, networks, and the ability to manipulate institutional processes from within, exploiting the vulnerabilities of democracy and the levers of capitalism to turn them against themselves.
The case of Sergio Gor is the archetype. His trajectory illustrates an operational doctrine that has matured over decades, from the financial frauds of Robert Maxwell to the blackmail networks of Jeffrey Epstein, reaching an ultimate form of sophistication in the political arena of Washington.
The « Serpent » in New Delhi: The Putin-Trump Pact’s Indian Outpost
Our purpose is to dissect this appointment by placing it in its global context. The analysis will proceed in three parts. First, an anatomy of the operator will be drawn, examining Sergio Gor’s journey, from the construction of his identity to his capture of the highest circles of power. Next, the genealogy of his methods will be explored, demonstrating how his modus operandi is the direct heir to the Maxwell-Epstein model, where kompromat and financial crime become weapons of democratic destruction. Finally, the overall strategic framework in which this operation is embedded will be revealed: that of a nascent Putin-Trump pact aimed at dismantling the international liberal order and neutralizing Europe. Only through this comprehensive analysis can the true meaning of such a man’s presence in a geopolitical theater as crucial as India be fully understood.
1: Anatomy of an Agent of Influence: The Case of Sergio Gor
1.1 The Maltese Mask and the Soviet Legend
One of the fundamental pillars of any intelligence operation is the construction of a credible cover, a « legend » in the service’s jargon. In Sergio Gor’s case, this construction is both crude and remarkably effective, testifying less to the perfection of the concealment than to the complacency of the environment in which he operated. Officially, Gor presents himself as an American of Maltese origin, an quaint island identity, evoking innocuous details like « Maltese pastries » to anchor this narrative.[01] However, the facts reveal a completely different origin. His real family name is Gorokhovsky, and his birthplace is not Valletta, but Tashkent, Uzbekistan, then a republic of the Soviet Union.[01] His parents’ path, arriving in Malta and then the United States before disappearing, follows a classic pattern used by Soviet services to plant agents abroad.[01]
Creating a false biography is not a mere résumé enhancement; it is a deliberate operational technique.
The goal is to erase origins that, if known, would have immediately triggered security protocols and American counter-intelligence alarms. A birth in the USSR and a Russian-sounding name would have made his ascent to highly sensitive national security positions virtually impossible. The Maltese legend, on the other hand, is exotic but harmless, designed specifically to divert attention and lull suspicion.
What is most revealing is not the attempt at deception itself, but its success. The ease with which such a legend could be maintained up to the highest levels of American power highlights a deep systemic failure.
In an increasingly polarized political culture, obsessed with personal loyalty and transactional efficiency, the rigor of security clearance processes has been supplanted by partisan considerations.
Gor’s legend did not need to be flawless; it simply had to be plausible enough for an environment that did not wish to look too closely at the details. The process by which this normalization of deceit took hold is instructive. Gor managed to conceal his origins for years, even while holding positions that should have required thorough vetting. This means that security checks either failed or were actively bypassed. The article The Serpent reports his refusal to submit the standard security form SF-86, an exhaustive document essential for any security clearance. His justification was a rhetorical sleight of hand: he claimed the « deep state » might corrupt the process.[01] In doing so, he used the anti-institutional populist rhetoric dear to Trump’s base to justify subverting the very security protocols designed to counter threats like the one he represents.
Political polarization and widespread mistrust of institutions thus create a permissive environment for agents of influence, who can cloak themselves in the ideology of the moment to dismantle the state’s safeguards.
1.2 The Rise of a Political Operator
Sergio Gor’s ascent is not the result of chance or exceptional talent, but the outcome of a methodical and calculated progression, precisely targeting the most permeable entry points for pro-Kremlin influence within the American establishment. His trajectory began at George Washington University, an institution known for training the capital’s political elite, where he distinguished himself as a conservative activist.[01] After working for marginal figures in the Republican Party (GOP), he moved closer to the party’s libertarian wing, known for its isolationist stances and its complacency toward Russia.
His association with Senator Rand Paul was a pivotal moment in his career.[01] Rand Paul is one of the most prominent voices of this movement, advocating for an American withdrawal from world affairs and regularly opposing sanctions against Russia. Gor became a key advisor to the senator, and his influence culminated in the organization of Paul’s controversial trip to Moscow in August 2018. During this trip, the American senator met with Russian officials, promised to block new sanctions, and, most importantly, delivered a personal letter from Donald Trump to Vladimir Putin.[01]
Gor was the architect of this back-channel diplomacy, demonstrating his ability to establish high-level contacts and facilitate actions directly aligned with the goals of Russian foreign policy. His ideological flexibility, shifting from classic conservatism to a pro-Russian libertarian posture, is not a contradiction but an essential characteristic of a political operator whose primary loyalty is not to a doctrine, but to a mission.[01]
1.3 Capturing the Target and Cementing Loyalty
After the 2016 election, Gor entered Donald Trump’s direct orbit, first as a major fundraiser for the 2020 re-election campaign.[01] However, his masterstroke came after Trump’s defeat, during his period of political isolation. In 2021, he co-founded Winning Team Publishing with Donald Trump Jr.[01] This initiative, seemingly purely commercial, held immense strategic importance. At the time, major American publishing houses, under public pressure, were refusing to publish the former president’s memoirs. By creating this publishing house, Gor solved both a financial and a narcissistic problem for Trump, offering him a platform to broadcast his message and monetize his brand at a time when the cultural establishment had turned its back on him.
This act transformed Gor from a mere political aide or fundraiser into a business partner and a confidant of the Trump family. He cemented a loyalty based not only on ideological convergence but also on personal interest and gratitude.
In the Trumpist universe, where personal loyalty trumps all other institutional or ethical considerations, this gesture was the ultimate test. By making himself indispensable during the post-presidential « exile, » Gor earned a position of trust that few could claim, securing him unparalleled access and influence in anticipation of a potential return to power.
1.4 Institutional Subversion: The White House Presidential Personnel Office
The most critical position held by Sergio Gor was undoubtedly that of director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office. This office, often perceived as a mere administrative function, is in fact one of the nerve centers of executive power. It is the gatekeeper that controls appointments to thousands of political positions throughout the entire government, including within national security, intelligence, defense, and Treasury agencies. As director, Gor had access to the most sensitive personal and security information of all candidates for these critical posts.[01]
The fact that he oversaw the vetting process for thousands of individuals while refusing to undergo the same scrutiny himself (by not completing the SF-86 form) constitutes an anomaly of exceptional gravity.[01] But the real danger of his position went far beyond the classic risk of data exfiltration.
The threat was not merely passive (stealing secrets) but active and systemic: the ability to wage administrative warfare from within. Control of the Personnel Office is a formi-dable bureaucratic weapon. A malicious actor in this position can actively sabotage the national security apparatus by appoin-ting incompetent, unqualified, or, worse, compromised individuals to key posts. He can systematically block the appointment of qualified candidates deemed hostile to his objectives or those of his sponsors. He can create large-scale systemic vulnerabilities by populating the administration with loyalists whose sole qualification is their personal allegiance, at the expense of competence and integrity.
Illustration © European-Security
This strategy transforms an administrative function into an offensive strategic weapon. This is no longer espionage, but a silent subversion, far more difficult to detect and counter.
By placing the right people in the right positions, Gor could prepare the ground for future policies aligned with Kremlin interests: weakening the American commitment to NATO, appointing compliant officials to the Treasury to lift sanctions against Russia, or paralyzing the intelligence community by installing leaders hostile to its mission. It is a form of bureaucratic « execution » of the rule of law and the safeguards of national security.
2: The Maxwell-Epstein Legacy: Kompromat as a Weapon of Democratic Destruction
To understand the nature of the threat posed by an operator like Sergio Gor, it is essential to place him in a historical lineage. His modus operandi is not a creation ex nihilo, but the culmination of a doctrine of subversion that has been refined for decades by figures like Robert Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein.
They pioneered a model where financial crime, blackmail, and influence operations merge to become a strategic weapon against Western democracies.
2.1 The Genesis of a Model: Robert Maxwell, Pioneer of the Gray War
Historian Françoise Thom’s analysis presents Robert Maxwell, Ghislaine Maxwell’s father, as the prototype of the modern gray war operator.[02] Long before the concept was popularized, Maxwell navigated with disconcerting ease between the worlds of business, media, and intelligence. His career is a case study of the fusion of media power, sophisticated financial fraud, and the exploitation of ties with spy agencies. From the Second World War, he operated at the intersection of British, Soviet, and Zionist services.[02]
His acquisition of the scientific publishing house Pergamon Press, partly financed by MI6, served as an ideal cover for gathering intelligence behind the Iron Curtain. Simultaneously, he was a zealous propagandist for the Kremlin, personally invited by Leonid Brezhnev and maintaining relationships with all successive General Secretaries of the Soviet Communist Party.[02] According to the testimony of KGB defectors, Maxwell allegedly collaborated directly with Soviet services to launch publications in London and finance film productions based on KGB scripts, while publishing the works of Soviet leaders with clandestine funding from Moscow.[02]
At the end of the Cold War, his role became even more crucial. Françoise Thom suggests he was a « linchpin » in the massive operation to transfer and launder the assets of the Soviet Communist Party to the West, orchestrated by the KGB between 1989 and 1991.[02] He is also said to have served as a gateway to the Western financial world for major figures of Russian organized crime linked to the KGB, such as Semion Mogilevich.[02] Maxwell thus pioneered a model that has become the norm in Putin’s Russia: an inextricable mix of criminal activities, intelligence operations, and political influence, where personal wealth and state objectives are inseparable. He demonstrated that in an open world, influence, bought with money and amplified by the media, is a more valuable currency than traditional military secrets.
2.2 The Supermarket of Chaos: Jeffrey Epstein’s « Russian Connection »
Jeffrey Epstein inherited this model and took it to an industrial scale. His case, often reduced to a sex trafficking scandal, must be analyzed above all as an intelligence and kompromat enterprise of unprecedented scope, with deep and documented ties to Russia. Françoise Thom demonstrates that there was a « highly profitable partnership for both parties » between Epstein and men from the Kremlin, long before 2014.[02]
Epstein’s main contact in Moscow was Sergey Belyakov, a high-ranking official and graduate of the FSB Academy. In the spring of 2014, as the West imposed sanctions on Russia following the annexation of Crimea, Belyakov sought Epstein’s advice on how to circumvent them. The latter provided strategies to counter the economic war waged by the West, demonstrating his role as a financial advisor to the Kremlin.[02] In return, Epstein put his address book at Moscow’s service, acting as a recruiter to attract leaders of Western technology, such as the heads of LinkedIn and Microsoft, to the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, with the likely aim of recruiting them or obtaining information.[2] The services were mutual: when Epstein needed help regarding a blackmail attempt by a Russian woman, Belyakov provided him with a complete intelligence file on her.[02]
Epstein’s operation was also supported by Russian financial and human infrastructure. Treasury Department investigations revealed that he used several Russian banks, now under sanctions, to make payments related to his sex trafficking network.[02]
Furthermore, he had a predilection for Russian female associates, who acted as undercover agents. Women like Svetlana Pozhidaeva, a graduate of the prestigious MGIMO (the academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), and Masha Drokova, a former activist of a pro-Putin youth movement, used their connections to Epstein to penetrate the American high-tech, artificial intelligence, and venture capital sectors, for the direct benefit of the Kremlin.[02]
The link between Epstein and Maxwell is no mere coincidence. Testimonies suggest that Epstein was trained by Maxwell’s associates in the 1980s and that they worked together on operations involving « blackmail, influence peddling, and information trading. »[02] Epstein appears to have taken over and perfected Maxwell’s networks and methods, transforming an artisanal influence operation into a multifunctional platform of subversion, a true « kompromat supermarket » in the service, wittingly or not, of Russian strategic interests.
2.3 The Doctrine of Nihilism: Kompromat as a Weapon of Mass Demoralization
The central idea developed by Françoise Thom is that the strategic objective of industrial-scale kompromat, as practiced by Epstein, goes far beyond simply blackmailing individuals.
The ultimate goal is to destroy citizens’ trust in their own democratic institutions. The Kremlin’s strategy is no longer to idealize Russia, but to persuade Western populations that their elites are universally corrupt, « all capable of the worst. »[02] This offensive aims to induce a widespread cynicism and nihilism that undermines the foundations of the social contract, makes democratic governance impossible, and, ultimately, presents a strong authoritarian regime as the only viable alternative to chaos.
The Epstein affair represents the transformation of kompromat from a targeted intelligence tactic into a weapon of mass psychological warfare. Whereas traditional kompromat aimed to control a specific individual to force them to perform a specific action, the Epstein model aims to contaminate the entire social body. The power of this weapon lies not in secret files held by an intelligence service, but in permanent and pervasive public scandal.
The publication of « lists » of names, whether authentic or not, and the countless conspiracy theories that follow are operationally more important than the actual blackmail of a public figure. The objective is to create an informational « cesspool, » a swamp where truth becomes indistinguishable from fiction, thus paralyzing rational public debate and political decision-making.
The most striking proof of this strategy’s success is how it has been adopted by domestic political actors. As Thom notes, Donald Trump’s 2024 MAGA campaign has made the declassification of the Epstein files one of its battle cries, hoping to compromise the « Deep State » elites and use the scandal to « drain the swamp » in Washington.[02] This is a perfect demonstration of the doctrine in action: a domestic political actor seizes the weapon (the informational chaos generated by kompromat) to attack his own institutions.
The Kremlin no longer needs to act directly; it has created a self-sustaining weapon of polarization and mistrust that corrodes democracy from within. The final goal is therefore not control, but chaos. For chaos is the state in which authoritarian regimes thrive and democracies decay.
Table 1: Mapping Influence Networks and Operational Methods
The following table systematizes the comparison between these three operators, highlighting the evolution of a doctrine of subversion over several decades. It demonstrates a continuity in strategic objectives but a constant adaptation of methods to the technological, financial, and political contexts of each era.
| Vector of Analysis | Robert Maxwell (The Prototype) | Jeffrey Epstein (Industrialization) | Sergio Gor (The Political Operator) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity / Legend | War hero, press magnate. | Financial genius, philanthropist. | Conservative activist, Trump loyalist, American of Maltese descent. |
| Operational Methods | Media infiltration, financial fraud, propaganda. | Sexual blackmail (kompromat), money laundering, technological infiltration. | Political infiltration, fundraising, bureaucratic subversion, information warfare. |
| Connections (Intel) | KGB (documented), MI6, Mossad. | FSB (partnership with Belyakov), multiple intelligence services (speculated). | Proximity to the pro-Russian wing of the GOP, actions aligned with Kremlin interests. |
| Targeted Elites | Political leaders (East/West), scientists, media. | Financial elites (Wall Street), politicians (Democrats/Republicans), scientists (MIT), royalty. | Political elite (White House, Congress), party donors, national security apparatus. |
| Strategic Objective | Propaganda, intelligence gathering, financial gain, political influence. | Creation of a « kompromat supermarket, » societal destabilization through chaos, financial gain, economic warfare. | Institutional capture, sabotage of security processes, preparation for a geopolitical realignment. |
This table is not a mere illustration. It is a visual argument that proves the thesis of a doctrinal continuity and adaptation. Maxwell used the tools of the Cold War: print media and publishing. Epstein adapted these methods to the era of globalized finance, deregulation, and sexual transgression. Gor represents the latest evolution of this operator, acting in the purely political and bureaucratic arena of the populist era, where personal loyalty and ideological polarization are the main currencies.
Analyzing Gor not as an isolated case, but as the logical culmination of this long-standing strategy of subversion, is therefore essential to understanding its true danger.
3: The Grand Design: Toward a Putin-Trump Pact Against Europe
The appointment of an operator like Sergio Gor to a key diplomatic post is not an isolated act, but a piece on a much larger chessboard. It is part of an ambitious strategic project of the Kremlin: the formation of a de facto alliance with a certain faction of American power, a « Putin-Trump pact, » whose main objective is the dismantling of the European security order and the neutralization of Europe as a geopolitical actor.
3.1 The Ideological Foundation: The Demonization of Europe
Every major geopolitical maneuver requires an ideological foundation. To justify this unnatural alliance between a Russian autocrat and an American administration, the Kremlin has undertaken a radical reorientation of its propaganda. Françoise Thom’s analysis of a document published by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) in April 2025 is illuminating in this regard.[03] This document marks a turning point. Europe is no longer simply portrayed as « decadent, » « liberal, » or « woke »—themes intended to appeal to the Western conservative right. The rhetoric has been dramatically hardened: Europe is now described as « genetically fascist. »[03]
This semantic shift, which began in the fall of 2024 with statements by the ideologue Sergey Karaganov calling Europe the « source of all the world’s evils, » is not trivial.[03] It is the creation of an ideological casus belli. In the same way that the incessant denunciation of the « Nazis of Kyiv » served to prepare the Russian public for the invasion of Ukraine, the labeling of the entire European continent as « Nazi » aims to prepare it ideologically for a broader confrontation. This rhetoric has a dual purpose. Internally, it justifies the sacrifices of a war economy and mobilizes the population around a narrative of existential struggle. Externally, it is specifically aimed at Trump’s electorate, presenting the confrontation not as a Russian imperialist aggression, but as an alliance of the « forces of peace » (Russia and the United States) against an intrinsically aggressive and fascist Europe. Moscow is abandoning the theme of a « woke Europe, » which might resonate with Trumpists, for that of a « fascist Europe, » because a rearming Europe that supports Ukraine is perceived as an enemy to be crushed, no longer a partner to be seduced.[03]
3.2 The Strategic Objectives of the Russo-American Alliance
Based on this ideological construct, the Putin-Trump pact pursues clear strategic objectives. The main goal, as formulated by the SVR document, is to « temporarily remove Europe from the resolution of global problems. »[04] This is a proposal for a Yalta 2.0, a division of the world into spheres of influence between two powers that, in the words of Françoise Thom, are two « predators » sharing a common hatred of the multilateral liberal order embodied by the European Union.[03]
For the Kremlin, a simple American withdrawal from NATO is no longer enough. The war in Ukraine has shown that European nations possess their own will to resist Russian imperialism. The objective is therefore more radical: the dismantling of the European Union itself. To achieve this, Moscow seeks to firmly anchor Donald Trump to the Russian cause.
Aware of his unpredictability, the Kremlin is multiplying gestures of flattery (commissioning a portrait, a Trump Tower project in Moscow) and offering him a shared imperial vision, where the United States and Russia would position themselves as arbiters of the world’s destiny against the « enraged Europeans. »[03] This vision resonates with the theories of some of Trump’s ideologues, like Steve Bannon, who envision a tripolar world (America, China, and a Russia-dominated Eurasia), a project that first requires « breaking European globalism. »[03]
3.3 The Gray War in Action: Dollars, Data, and Donations
This grand strategic design is implemented daily through the « gray war, » an undeclared war waged by economic, informational, and political means.[05] The cases of Gor and Epstein are perfect examples of how this war is conducted on the ground. They illustrate how financial flows (campaign donations, venture capital investments, money laundering) and data (personal information, trade secrets, Kompromat) are used as weapons to acquire political influence, corrupt elites, and weaken institutions from within.
“Edward Lozansky and Dimitri Simes appear to be key historical figures, pioneers who, as early as the 1970s and 1980s, were able to infiltrate American conservative circles and lay the foundations for the current lobby.”[01]
This approach reveals a deep understanding of the vulnerabilities of open societies. The gray war is not just a matter of spies and propaganda; it is an economic model that exploits the fundamental principles of Western capitalism to turn them against itself. Democratic and capitalist systems present inherent « attack surfaces »: the constant need for campaign financing, the frantic search for investment for tech companies, the need for public figures to solve business or reputational problems.
Operators like Gor and Epstein function as « entrepreneurs of subversion. » They identify these needs and provide solutions, thereby making themselves indispensable to their targets. Gor solves Trump’s publishing problem; Epstein offers investment opportunities and satisfies the vices of the financial elite. By creating value (financial, political, personal) for their targets, they integrate themselves into the core of power networks.
Once integrated, these networks can be activated to serve external strategic objectives: promoting pro-Russian policies, obtaining sensitive information, appointing compliant individuals to key positions. Subversion is therefore not imposed from the outside by force, but injected from within through a series of transactions that appear, at first glance, to be mutually beneficial. It is the equivalent of a hostile takeover of the political system, financed by the very mechanisms of that system.
Conclusion: New Delhi, a Theater of Global Confrontation
The appointment of Sergio Gor as ambassador to New Delhi, illuminated by the analysis of his profile, the genealogy of his methods, and the grand strategic design he serves, now appears in its true light. It is neither a coincidence nor a sinecure. It is a strategic deployment on one of the most important battlegrounds of 21st-century geopolitical confrontation. India is a pivot. It is the world’s largest democracy, a major player in BRICS, a nuclear power, and an economic giant that the West, Russia, and China are desperately trying to woo. It is at the heart of the so-called « Global South, » the group of nations that refuses to align in the new confrontation between blocs.
Placing an operator of Gor’s caliber in India is a tactical masterstroke in the service of the Putin-Trump pact strategy. His mission will not be traditional bilateral diplomacy, which consists of representing American interests as defined by the State Department. His mission will be to build an influence network for the benefit of the Putin-Trump axis, pursuing several convergent objectives. First, he will work to solidify ties within BRICS to accelerate the creation of alternatives to Western-dominated financial and political institutions. Second, he will use India as a platform for influence operations throughout the Indo-Pacific, aimed at undermining American alliances in the region. Third, and perhaps most importantly, he will work to detach India from its nascent strategic partnership with the United States, Japan, and Australia (the Quad), to pull it more firmly into a new « Eurasian » sphere of influence dominated by Moscow and Beijing.
Gor’s dispatch to New Delhi is therefore indeed an « execution »: the execution of the Western Indo-Pacific strategy, designed to contain Chinese influence, and a crucial step in the attempt to dismantle the existing world order.
Faced with this hybrid, coordinated, and existential threat, the urgency for European democracies is absolute.[06] It is imperative to recognize the nature of this attack, which aims not only to gain geopolitical advantages but to destroy the liberal democratic model itself. The response must be equal to the challenge. It requires a drastic strengthening of counter-intelligence capabilities, not only against traditional threats but also against these new forms of political and bureaucratic subversion. It necessitates much stricter regulation of foreign political financing and greater transparency in financial transactions involving authoritarian regimes. But above all, it demands political unity and unwavering resolve to resist this offensive. Europeans must understand that the battlefield is no longer just on their eastern borders, in Ukraine. It is also at the heart of their own institutions and, critically, within those of their main historical ally.[07] Gor’s appointment is a warning: the serpent has entered the house.
Joël-François Dumont
Sources
[01] Laurence Saint-Gilles, « The Serpent »: — (2025-0728) — Laurence Saint-Gilles’s paper delves into the « Gor affair, » a political firestorm ignited by a New York Post investigation into Sergio Gor, President Trump’s powerful personnel chief. Tasked with vetting thousands of officials, Gor has suspiciously avoided submitting his own mandatory security clearance form, the SF-86. This refusal, amplified by accusations from his rival Elon Musk, has fueled speculation that Gor may be a Russian mole—a « ghost in the Trump machine. » Saint-Gilles dissects the glaring inconsistencies in Gor’s biography, from his fabricated Maltese identity and mysterious parents to his original Russian surname. The analysis scrutinizes the « agent theory » and traces Gor’s calculated political ascent through the GOP’s ultraconservative wing. Ultimately, the paper highlights the profound national security risk posed by a potentially compromised individual with access to the sensitive data of America’s top government officials.
See Also: In “The Gray War: Dollars, Data, and Donations,” Laurence Saint-Gilles explains that the Russian lobby did not create these cracks in America’s foundations, but that it « has demonstrated an exceptional ability to find them, widen them, and plant the seeds of doubt and discord. The ongoing challenge for Western democracies is not only to counter Russia, but to address the internal weaknesses that make its efforts so devastatingly effective.«
[02] « Cesspool and Chaos: the Russian Connection in the Epstein Affair » (2025-0730) — In this explosive article, French historian Françoise Thom highlights the close relationship between the late financier Jeffrey Epstein and the father of his accomplice Ghislaine, Robert Maxwell, the late British press magnate, on the on the one hand, and the upper echelons of Soviet and then Russian power on the other. This raises a troubling question: what if it was the FSB that held the infamous “list” of Epstein’s clients? What better way to compromise the American elite than to possess evidence of participation in orgies with minors?
[03] Toward a Putin–Trump Pact? (2025-0430) — The Kremlin’s “dogma” is flexible. Since the end of World War II, the USSR viewed the United States as its greatest ideological adversary. Under Putin’s leadership, it was believed that the war in Ukraine was in fact a war between the U.S. and Russia, with Europeans merely acting as American vassals. With Trump, the narrative shifted. Now, Europe is accused of being “fascist,” while Russia and the US are cast as allies for “peace.” Françoise Thom offers a meticulous analysis of this new Russian doctrine, based on a document recently published by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). Desk Russia has decided to publish the full translation of this publication attributed by the SVR to Mr Tcheremnykh and V. Motchalov and asked Françoise Thom to analyse it. The new honeymoon with Washington is forcing the SVR of the Russian Federation to reorient the Russian national narrative. ‘European special services are ready to do anything to achieve their criminal goal, namely to perpetuate the conflict in Ukraine between NATO member states and Russia,’ the SVR warned on its website on 24 April. In the past, we read Krokodil; today, we look at the SVR website! Perhaps Putin’s entourage has decided that the Kremlin’s propagandists have become so inept that even Medvedev’s outbursts no longer have any impact »
[04] “The Gray War: Dollars, Data, and Donations” — (2025-0831) — In her masterful article for Desk Russie, “The Russian Lobby in the United States,” Laurence Saint-Gilles has done some essential mapping work. With the precision of a political geographer, she has traced the visible contours of Russian influence, revealing the topography of an American “Putinosphere” and its “long process of undermining.” Her analysis provides an indispensable framework for anyone seeking to understand how a nebulous network of interests aligned with Moscow has managed to establish itself at the very heart of American power.
[05] « Russia’s Plan for the United States » Françoise Thom — (2025-0329) — According to Françosie Thom « « The interests of Russian oligarchs converge with those of Big Tech magnates. Putin and the major oligarchs, both Russian and American, believe themselves to be above the law. Putin’s con-tempt for the law goes so far that he calls into question the very notion of the state, precisely because a state is based on a legal framework and has borders, which he dislikes. Trumpism aims to replace the state with a Putin-style ‘vertical power structure’, in which officials are chosen for their loyalty rather than their compe-tence. The dismantling of the state is accompanied by deregulation, which benefits the big oligarchs who aspire to become masters of financial flows. This is why Kremlin strategists understood very early on what services Western libertarians could provide them,‘ writes Françoise Thom in Le Monde, adding: ’Douguin’s ideas have permeated Putin’s regime and inspired the policy of destroying the United States that has been implemented for the past 20 years. The aim is to inflict on the US the same blows that it allegedly dealt to the USSR under Gorbachev, depriving it of its allies, unilaterally disarming it, ruining its economy ».
[06] « The Lessons of Trumpism for Europeans: How to Avoid a ‘Self-Putinization’ of the EU » — (2025-0225) — ‘The frenzy of self-destruction that has taken hold of the United States has literally stunned those Americans who sense the danger they are in, but are powerless to prevent the collapse of their democracy. In Europe, the stupor is no less and the shock has petrified minds.’ Françoise Thom recalls the intellectual origins of Trumpism, sets out its principles and explains how the mythology of the deep state and the betrayal of the elites have been exploited by Kremlin propagandists to create chaos in the United States. The big bosses of the digital world have also played a harmful role in the dismantling of the American state. Finally, she proposes measures to be taken urgently in Europe to avoid suffering the same fate as the Americans. ‘We need to analyse and understand how the United States got to this point, because we are being affected by the same forces that we see at work across the Atlantic. The American experience should teach us something‘.
[07] « États-Unis : le clonage du poutinisme ? » — (2024-1222) — Selon Françoise Thom, « le régime que veut imposer Trump aux Américains a des ressemblances avec celui de Poutine et, dans les deux cas, la complaisance des oligarques y joue un rôle important. S’agit-il d’évolutions parallèles qui expliqueraient le rapprochement structurel entre les deux pays ? Dans quelle mesure le Kremlin a-t-il encouragé ces changements dans la société américaine et dans l’entourage de Trump à travers l’infiltration des élites conservatrices ?»
See Also:
- « A Dehli-cate Situation: The Serpent in the Embassy » — (2025-0902) —
- « Le Serpent à plumes de New Delhi » — (2025-0902) —
- « Gefährliche Liegenschaften: Die Schlange im diplomatischen Dienst » — (2025-0902) —
In-depth Analysis:
The recent appointment of Sergio Gor as the U.S. ambassador to India is not a simple diplomatic post, but a key strategic maneuver in a broader « gray war » against Europe. The article argues this move is part of a developing « Putin-Trump pact » designed to dismantle the transatlantic alliance and the European security order. Gor is portrayed as a sophisticated political operator and an agent of influence whose career has been a calculated infiltration of American political circles.
The text delves into Gor’s background, alleging his official Maltese-American identity is a cover for his Soviet origins, having been born in Tashkent. His rise involved aligning with pro-Kremlin, isolationist wings of the Republican party and cementing his loyalty to Donald Trump by solving a critical business and personal problem for him after his presidency. The article posits that his operational methods are inherited from the playbooks of Robert Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein, using financial entanglement and kompromat as tools of subversion.
Placing Gor in New Delhi is presented as a masterstroke. India, a pivotal nation in the « Global South » and a member of the BRICS, becomes the new theater for this geopolitical confrontation. His mission is not traditional diplomacy but to undermine Western alliances in the Indo-Pacific, such as the Quad, and pull India further into a Eurasian sphere of influence, thereby advancing the strategic goals of the Moscow-Trump axis. The appointment serves as a stark warning of a coordinated, hybrid threat to democratic institutions.
