Is China-Russia-Iran axis illusion as differences surface in Middle East?
Despite the mirage of a united front between China, Iran and Russia, the "growing cooperation" represents mere snippets of a much more complex nexus of bilateral and multilateral interactions that tend to be more dialectical than reported.
The specter of a China-Russia-Iran axis continues to haunt pundits and policymakers from Washington to Westminster, Tel Aviv and even Tokyo.
United by a common adversary — the United States — and driven by a shared resentment toward the Western-centric world order, these authoritarian nations have banded together to break free from US containment, carve out spheres of influence that challenge American hegemony and replace the current global system with a multipolar one. Or so the story goes.
In April, US House Speaker Mike Johnson declared that "Xi, Putin and Iran are truly the axis of evil" and are "coordinating their actions." Others in the US establishment have since echoed the speaker's sentiments. The analytical community has tweaked the George Bush-era terminology, warning instead of an "Axis of Disorder," "Unholy Alliance," "Axis of Autocracy" or "Legion of Doom." Sometimes, North Korea is added to the mix.
Fears surrounding growing cooperation between these countries and their potential to upend the status quo are certainly not unfounded.
