There are growing reports that North Korea is sending as many as 3,000 troops to assist Russia in its war on Ukraine. If true, it would not only be the latest example of Pyongyang helping Moscow, but also further proof of a growing closeness between those two capitals, Beijing, and Tehran. It’s been variously called the new “axis of evil,” or the “quartet of chaos,” but whatever the moniker, the four countries are stymieing a range of United States and Western interests around the world.
Is it a marriage of convenience or an active alliance? Chung Min Lee, senior fellow at Carnegie Endowment, argues, “There is a common interest of hatred against the West and America, and some type of strategic alignment. [But] this is not an alliance. It is not long term. And the most important glue that should hold them together, which is absent, is trust. None of these four countries trusts each other. I think that is going to undo the so-called super Eurasian alignment over the next 4 or 5 years.”
But how should the West counter this collaboration? There are no further sanction options, says Barbara Slavin, distinguished fellow at the Stimson Center, and bombing would provoke too much escalation. “That leaves only diplomacy. But diplomacy is tough because the United States pulled out of the last deal. There is very little trust on the Iranian side. And of course, there’s very little trust on the U.S. side, as well. But I don’t think we have another alternative. If we can’t reach a grand bargain, we have to work for small understandings that de-escalate the tensions over the nuclear program and, even more important, over the regional crisis, which is getting worse and worse.”
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