I read the Narratively's seven stories, which were certainly an interesting read, but I think they simplified things a lot. To begin with, I am not sure how wel

I read the Narratively's seven stories, which were certainly an interesting read, but I think they simplified things a lot. To begin with, I am not sure how well we can draw from the Cold War era lessons to analyze the present day. Nor am I entirely sure how successful these information operations were even back then. Regarding Europe, I think you are on the right track about the role of political parties in democratic backsliding. While heavy disinformation and propaganda (both domestic and foreign) are certainly involved, there are all sorts of other dynamics involved. Oftentimes, things really start to get awry when a dominant party succeeds in capturing state institutions (including the judiciary) and the media sector. It is also noteworthy that such capturing may occur both through "pure" political actors and corporate powers, the latter often in the form of corrupted oligarchic structures, as you pointed out. Also recessions and economic hardship have played significant roles, as they have always done. People's apathy and disengagement are also a factor. In Europe we also have the further issue of backsliding spilling to the supranational level. That said, I disagree with your conclusion: even with the dangers, political parties are clearly necessary. As for the Narratively's focus on "fake news", I think a central question is in which stage of the backsliding these play a role. A hypothesis would be that these are particularly important early on. Later on, the entity that has succeeded in capturing can use the fire-hose strategy at its will.