By Amanda Knox
 
According to Wikipedia, the Cold War was “cold” because the U.S. and Russia never engaged in open conflict. Instead, they exerted their super political and military influence over lesser powers to outplay each other on a global scale, all the while upholding the threat of mutually assured destruction. It was a race of ideologies—West vs. East, capitalism vs. communism, democracy vs. dictatorship—with real stakes that were ever-present for everyone who was alive and aware between 1945 and 1991.
 
Not me, then. I was born in 1987, and the Cold War has always been a part of the past for me. I didn’t grow up with civil defense sirens, or get drilled in school about what to do in case of a nuclear attack. “The Russian threat” was a James Bond trope. In real life, I never felt like Russia was any more threatening than any other foreign country. The game was over. Democracy had won.
 
Except, with the confirmation of Russian meddling in our election process, for the first time ever, I feel a cold breath against the back of my neck. It’s not so much because Russia hacked us. Everyone hacks. We hack. It’s bad that Russia was able to hack us, but the real reason I’m chilled to the bone is because Russia’s hacking worked. Russia strategically exposed the DNC to negative publicity, stayed strategically silent about the RNC and candidate Trump, and in so doing, managed to manipulate large swaths of Americans, influence our election, and undermine our democracy.
 
Having directly benefitted from Russian interference, President-elect Trump asks: why shouldn’t the U.S. and Russia be friends?
 
Because Russia governs itself by dictatorship. Because Putin imprisons his political opponents. Because Russian hacking purposefully interfered with our democratic process at the highest level. Because “friendship”—the lifting of sanctions and the acceptance of Russia’s political and military influence on the world—is what Russia needs to gain ground as our ideological rival.
 
If the Electoral College confirms Mr. Trump’s election today, the question Americans need to start asking themselves is: what does a friendship between the U.S. and Russia look like? What does that friendship mean for the rest of the world? For N.A.T.O.? For I.S.I.S.? For Muslims? For L.G.B.T.Q.? For climate change? For democracy?
 
No one alive in the world has ever known such a friendship. As a nation, we need to be fit to look that friendship squarely in the face. Relationships only function if either (1) they have a solid foundation in truth and trust, and show courage in communication and self-awareness; or (2) they are thoroughly and honestly policed for accountability. President-elect Trump has so far failed in that regard; he carefully misrepresents Putin’s qualities, redefining dictatorship as “strong leadership.” But as Chris pointed out to me, “It’s like calling a piece of shit ‘rich in flavor.’ Technically that’s true.” Which means, as much as we Americans will need to police our new and precarious friendship with Russia, we will need to do a much more thorough, honest, and courageous job at policing our own leadership.
 
As the great Albus Dumbledore once said, “We must choose between what is easy and what is right.” (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Scholastic, 2000). That means we need to stop acting silly and actually do our homework, America.