Will the west successfully respond to putins threat since he has so successfully utilized cyberwarfare and election interference to divide what used to be an impenetrable trans-atlantic alliance, leaving it in tatters today? what do you think the ramifications of this will be?

It is anyone's guess will the West respond successfully to Russia's action and the disturbance and problems that it manages to make inside the Trans-Atlantic Alliance, as there is no real way to predict things. Putin is a very smart and experienced politician, unlike some of the leaders in the West lately, which has often led to situation where Putin will outmaneuver them easily. Gradually, this has started to create problems, tensions, and a gap between the Western countries, which is becoming an ever growing concern each year. But it is not just Putin and Russia, the bigger problems is actually that the West has lost the cohesion that it had, and there is a very large political division between two large and strong fractions, which is the basis for all the internal problems, while Putin is just playing smartly and exploiting that. The ramifications of this situation, if it continues in the same direction will probably be division into two or more separate blocks,even with a chance to become competition and opponents.

the catholic church withhold people's access to the bible during the middle ages.

people could go to church and listen to the teachings, but it was absolutely forbidden to own and/or read the books of both the old and new testaments. it was also prohibited to translate the books (which where originally in biblical hebrew) to any other language.

this was done so the church could remain in control of what their teachings were and to enhance their importance and power, while also being able to judge people's actions through information that was unavailable for the general public.

interest groups send representatives to state capitals and to washington, d.c. to put pressure on members of congress and other policymakers. they engage in lobbying, or the organized process of influencing legislation or policy. lobbying can take many forms. interest groups can testify in congressional hearings.