Against the backdrop of the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin managed to rally around himself an alliance of North Korea, Iran and China. The problem is that three countries in this alliance have nuclear weapons.
Points of attention
- Deepening strategic cooperation among the dictatorships of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea poses a significant global threat.
- The economic and military integration of Putin's allied countries is likened to pre-World War II Axis powers, heightening concerns of widespread conflicts.
- The interconnected nature of wars on the planet is highlighted, emphasizing the potential domino effect from conflicts in different regions involving Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
Putin has formed a new axis of evil
Nicholas Eberstadt, head of the Department of Political Economy at the American Institute of Entrepreneurship, issued an important warning on this matter.
According to the expert, Bechtol's "horror" hypothesis is a scenario that will probably never come true, but it is precisely the terrifying consequence of the alliance between Moscow and Pyongyang.
Eberstadt draws attention to the fact that no matter how Russia's war against Ukraine develops, the deployment of North Korean forces on the Ukrainian front should really alarm the White House.
Four aggressive dictatorships—Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea—are cooperating strategically, and their cooperation is deepening and becoming more coordinated. Three of them possess nuclear weapons, and Iran seeks to join this club, the political scientist emphasizes.
Most wars on the planet are interconnected
As noted by historian Hal Brands, while Putin and his allies have yet to form a strong alliance like NATO, they are already more deeply integrated, both economically and militarily, than the Axis powers during World War II.
He draws attention to the fact that the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation subsidize North Korea, and the aggressor country relies on Beijing in terms of sales markets, Tehran — in terms of attack drones, and the DPRK — in terms of military equipment and manpower.
It is also impossible to ignore the fact that Iran receives military technologies from Pyongyang and increases economic cooperation with Russia and China.
Moreover, as is known, they actively defend each other at international and diplomatic forums.
We must understand that the war in Gaza and Lebanon against Israel, which is being waged by Iranian proxies, is Russia's war against Ukraine, just like the war in Taiwan, which can be unleashed by China at a convenient time for Beijing. Failures in one theater of operations will lead to even greater failures, Eberstadt concluded.
