There’s something particularly disconcerting about seeing Vladimir Putin grinning like the cat who ate the canary at this week’s BRICs summit. Is it more than a coincidence that the combined attack on Israel by Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, with support from Iran, was not an accidental distraction from the impasse in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? Yesterday, Microsoft and other cybersecurity experts revealed that President Putin is continuing his efforts to influence the U.S. election in President Donald Trump’s favor in coordination with interference from China and Iran. Documented by. Just as President George W. Bush warned in 2002, an “axis of evil” still exists, with President Vladimir Putin at its center.
It is baffling that President Putin continues to influence other leaders around the world despite a failed invasion that killed hundreds of thousands of his own people and destroyed his country’s economy. are. Rather than bluffing, it has expanded its influence through manipulation and diversions between and among states, despite its limited means as a failed superpower. As a KGB veteran, Putin has extended his tentacles to subvert democracy and undermine world harmony through propaganda and intrigue to compensate for lost industrial power.
Russia’s national income statistics have been hidden from the IMF since 2022 because President Putin fears showing the world how bad his country’s economy is in all areas. Russia has become increasingly irrelevant to world commerce and diplomacy as major sources of revenue evaporate as energy and other raw material exports and dwindling reserves evaporate due to the impasse in the ill-fated war against Ukraine. There is.
The return of President Trump has heightened tensions in the United States. Divisive political extremism is on the rise in France and Germany. Ukraine is facing massive suffering amidst growing threats to European security. Instability in the Middle East is reignited amid brazen attacks on Israeli and EU ships by Iran and its proxies, the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah.
President Putin’s imperialist invasion of Ukraine resulted in the kidnapping of 120,000 Russian soldiers, 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers, and 12,000 innocent civilians, in addition to the reported kidnapping of 10,000 children. More than 500,000 people died, including Russia has retreated several decades and is no longer a global superpower or significant economic power.
President Putin has become more than just an aggressor seeking empire-building. He is the engineer behind the rise of a new and more powerful “Axis of Evil.” The term “axis of evil” was first coined by President George W. Bush in his 2002 State of the Union address. And President Bush was speaking to a nation and a world seeking moral leadership after the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11th. The Axis members of Iran, Iraq, and North Korea were recognized as the evil state actors responsible for collectively organizing the intended attack. “Threatening world peace”
Adversary states are only expanding their use of terrorists to advance their ultimate goals. These adversaries continue to collaborate behind closed doors to expand their knowledge, resources, and capabilities, thereby posing a greater threat. President Trump does not seem to appreciate or understand these valuable lessons from history.
Cheering up Putin’s partners in China, Iran and North Korea
Today, political leaders and national security experts are reconstructing the axis of evil to focus on Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. Despite historically rocky relations and new skepticism among the new Axis members, the four countries and their proxies have spent the past decade promoting trade, strengthening diplomacy and military cooperation. has expanded.
Russia provides sensitive and advanced military technology, information, and equipment to the Axis powers, including nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and missile defense programs, and space satellites, to sustain the war with Ukraine. In return, Iran will provide drones and ballistic missiles. North Korea is providing ammunition, ballistic and tactical missiles, as well as thousands of new troops. And China currently smuggles 90% of the regulated munitions imported from Russia to make missiles, tanks, aircraft, and drones. All parties benefit from technical learning through live fire experiments on the battlefield.
Iran and Russia export hydrocarbons to China, and the duo is acting as an additional source of demand for Chinese products, an attempt to make up for lost trade due to recent EU and US restrictions. Meanwhile, China supports North Korea with oil, vital consumer goods, and cross-border labor opportunities. Hamas and Hezbollah also benefit from attacking Israel using new weapons from Russia, China, and North Korea.
Diplomacy also improved. Russia renewed partnership agreements with China and North Korea in May and June respectively, and hopes to sign a new deal with Iran after this week’s BRICS summit, deepening ties in both cases. are. China and Russia welcomed Iran into the BRICS this year and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization last year, reintroducing the Middle Eastern country to a group of potential new partners and trade possibilities. China and North Korea have a long-standing relationship dating back decades, and will continue to do so as long as it serves China’s interests.
Efforts to erode European unity
Soft diplomacy is also a tool Putin frequently deploys to forge new covert inroads with Western proxies. Putin’s relationship with Marine Le Pen, former leader of a party that strengthens the French national movement, is well-documented and long-standing. Pro-Russian parties in several German states made significant gains in local elections in September. Similarly, in Austria, the far-right pro-Russian Freedom Party won the largest number of voters in August’s national elections. And to the surprise of Western allies, Serbia, Hungary and Turkey maintain close ties to Putin’s government, with the latter two often holding NATO votes hostage to support the Kremlin.
Military engagement has been steadily escalating, recently reaching a new high when China and Russia held large-scale, multi-ocean joint naval exercises monitored by “friendly nations.” Iran also participated in the previous exercise. In support of Russia’s war against Ukraine, Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) led Russian military training to operate Iranian drones in Syria. North Korea is currently sending special forces to eastern Russia in preparation for a war between Russia and Ukraine.
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Syria has played a key role in expanding the reach of President Putin’s military complex over the past decade, and relations with Ukraine continue today. In 2015, President Putin defended Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war against Islamic State rebels. The move was a lifeline for Assad, whose forces received equipment, troops, training and technology, but Russia gained the upper hand. Putin will gain control of airspace in western and central Syria and gain access to Mediterranean ports. Moscow was also given an opportunity to rebuild relations with Iran, which was already supporting Assad through Hezbollah as well as the Revolutionary Guards and the Quds Force.
These benefits over time turned out to be extremely valuable for Russia. Syria’s outposts have increased its presence in the Black Sea, expanded commercial trade, and served as important tools for military power projection. The position has been used to facilitate military and covert operations, including the war with Ukraine, and to train thousands of military personnel from Russia, Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis over the years. President Putin even recruited Syrian mercenaries to support the war in Ukraine.
Shared ties but different interests
What unites the Axis of Evil is not a shared belief in a particular form of government or value system, but rather a disdain for the current Western-led global order and a reaction to Western-imposed sanctions. What’s more notable is that while for China this bond is motivated by economic opportunism, for Russia, Iran, and North Korea it is driven by economic necessity.
Therefore, it is the duty of the United States and its allies to squeeze the three weak states. The United States needs to more rigorously enforce current sanctions against Russia and secondary sanctions against entities supporting Russian aggression. Sanctions on Iranian oil exports, most of which go to China, should be reinstated. New targeted sanctions should be prepared if Russia, Iran, and North Korea go too far.
China has more to lose than other countries and calls for a more nuanced approach. China’s total trade with its three peer countries is less than a quarter of that with just the United States and the European Union, which represent important consumer markets for the Chinese economy. The erratic actions of Iran and North Korea, as well as the embarrassing invasion of Ukraine, have not given President Xi Jinping confidence. In that case, the United States and its allies must offer Mr. Xi a viable alternative and convince him that the benefits of his current opportunistic policies outweigh the costs.
The timing may be advantageous for the West, given China’s current economic downturn. In fact, President Xi recently said, “China wants to be a partner and friend of the United States. This will be of benefit not only to both countries but also to the world,” and has expressed a strong desire to strengthen engagement with the United States. showed interest in
For each approach, a realistic strategic response will require more than tariffs and rhetoric. Instead, Western countries need to develop a firm but fair and coordinated response tailored to China’s current economic and geopolitical circumstances.
Trump as a useful tool to weaken allies
This month, Bob Woodward revealed that private conversations between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin continued even after the former left office. President Trump has refused to deny these charges. Mr. Woodward’s revelation of Mr. Trump’s affection for President Vladimir Putin in the wake of Russia’s unprovoked aggression against its peaceful, sovereign neighbor is particularly important given Mr. Trump’s likely return to the presidency. This is even more worrying. Whether President Trump remains sympathetic to President Putin will need to be tested on the eve of the US election.
Western leaders must start by building a more unified front. Success will require a commitment from each leader to defend democracy, a pledge to protect allies, and a degree of faith in the rule of law and respect for individual personhood. These same attributes are also essential for strengthening emerging regional alliances in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and establishing new partnerships in other geostrategic regions. Unfortunately, there is no single characteristic that defines President Trump’s leadership.
Furthermore, even after the Biden-Harris administration took over, the Trump administration did not leave America strengthened on the world stage. President Trump’s tough actions have soured relations with key Western and Eastern allies, done more harm than good, and diminished America’s standing in the world. Trump diplomacy did nothing to limit North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. After President Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, Iran cut the time needed to build a nuclear bomb in half.
The Trump administration’s decisions to end or reduce partnerships and alliances created a vacuum in global leadership that had long been filled by the United States, making possible China’s rapid intervention. For example, China’s foreign direct investment through the Belt and Road Initiative allows the country to build dual-use commercial and military capabilities in geostrategic locations and develop advantageous trade relationships with recipient countries. The purpose is
Closer to home, Mr. Trump did not rebuild or improve military readiness, as he had promised during his campaign. The constantly mentioned trade imbalance actually increased by more than 20% from when President Trump took office and when he left office, but the trade imbalance with China also did not decrease.
Leadership challenges to unmask evil and strengthen your collectibles’ defenses
Improving diplomacy, trade partnerships, and military preparedness will be an imperative for the next leaders of the United States and its Western allies. Blunt military tactics and widespread tariffs are certainly not effective, nor are appeasement measures based on strongman’s attachment to the regime.
Focusing solely on Russia will not bring peace to the Middle East or reduce tensions in the Asia-Pacific region. Driving a wedge between the new axis of evil will require a foreign policy of precision, tact, trust, stability, and cooperation. America cannot do this alone, and we need a president who humbly but confidently recognizes that reality.
There has never been a time when collective action beyond world leaders is more urgently needed to counter the pervasive evil of President Putin’s agenda.
