Russian trolls prey on the toxic way we do our politics | Rafael Behr

The Kremlin's target is not the outcome of specific votes, such as for Brexit or the US presidency, but to divide the west

To understand the current political frenzy on both sides of the Atlantic, it helps to know Tortuous Convolvulus. Unfamiliar with his work? Convolvulus was a spy, operating around 50BC, a specialist in psychological warfare. He was deployed by Julius Caesar against a stubborn Gallic rebellion, and his methods were not so different to those of Russian cyber-saboteurs against western democracies.

On a recent trip to the US I was struck by how engaged officials were with the question of a Kremlin-sponsored Brexit