A new book titled Survival – Democracy’s Struggle To Survive brings together bestselling author Elizabeth Graham and eight prominent experts on Donald Trump to examine the Trump/Russia connection and its implications for American democracy. The book, released this month, is available at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Elizabeth-Graham/author/B0CMY189NT.
Graham, who lived in Moscow during the Soviet collapse, argues that the roots of the current crisis trace back to 1992, when Putin and his KGB colleagues emerged from the wreckage of the Soviet Union. Recognizing that Russia could not defeat the United States militarily, they launched a covert campaign to weaken America from within. By the turn of the millennium, the CIA had shut down more than thirty overseas intelligence operations and reduced its Russian specialists by over 25%, leaving the U.S. exposed. Presidents Bush and Clinton, along with much of the public, no longer viewed Russia as an enemy. Yet, like a modern Trojan Horse, Russia only appeared to retreat as elite KGB/FSB operatives infiltrated American society, including the entanglement of a narcissistic American man who loved money and women more than integrity. The trap was set.
Putin’s efforts to undermine democracy quietly influenced every aspect of American government, politics, and daily life. Many Americans and the media overlooked this pernicious interference, convinced that Trump is not aligned with Putin—a critical delusion held despite conclusive evidence. Craig Unger, an award-winning New York Times bestselling author and co-author of Survival, has proved without doubt, and by providing solid evidence, that Trump is “owned” by Putin/Russia. Dr. Bandy Lee, a forensic and social psychiatrist and co-author, edited The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, which accurately predicted the severity and timing of the nation’s decline if a dangerously unfit president remained in office.
“Few Americans have observed the sweeping changes in the United States over the past decade as closely as I have or understood their corrosive connection to the evolution of Russian politics and government since the Gorbachev era,” Graham stated. “I was living in Moscow when the Soviet Union collapsed. I witnessed the disbelief of thousands of Russians. I saw ordinary citizens endure joblessness, food shortages, inadequate medical care, and unpaid pensions and salaries. These early Yeltsin years were chaotic, leaving many Russians longing for the familiar stability of communism. Putin and the KGB capitalized on this volatility with a perilous, reticent rise to power.”
Survival concludes that Ukraine and American democracy face a common enemy. While Ukrainians endure daily bombing and death, Americans are largely uninformed or in denial about their adversary. The book lists visible consequences: a 50% jump in gas prices in one year, ten million Americans losing health care in 2026, contaminated foods, an endless war costing nearly $2 billion per day, grocery price increases up to 40%, restaurant closures, massive discrimination through ICE and the closure of USAID with an estimated 22 million preventable deaths projected by 2030 in Africa, and an assault on elections—including sixty polling sites in Georgia receiving bomb threats in 2024 traced to Russian IP addresses. It also cites the arson of a South Carolina judge’s house and an explosion at a Tennessee munitions plant that shipped munitions to Ukraine.
Like the roots of the tree on the cover of Survival, the United States must draw renewed strength from its own roots: the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The book is intended as a comparative assessment, an inspiration, and a collection of Substack messages from some of the best-informed nonfiction authors of the last decade. It warns that the danger is ongoing and that being informed is crucial to preserving democracy.
