Paul J. Saunders
Adeepening alignment among China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea is drawing considerable attention as the United States and its allies confront new challenges from these four nations, both individually and in various assortments. Yet in addition to the policy problems this cooperation poses, Washington faces another difficulty: what to call them?
Some are eager to brand these American adversaries as a new “Axis of Evil,” reassigning former President George W. Bush’s two-decade-old label for Iran, Iraq, and North Korea. Yet like efforts to define international relations as a semi-apocalyptic struggle between democracies and authoritarian states, the rhetoric of “evil” makes America’s job harder rather than easier. Moralistic rhetoric undermines rather than facilitates opportunities to exploit gaps between U.S adversaries whose interests are not identical. Beijing, Moscow, Tehran, and Pyongyang are each trying to drive wedges between Washington and allied capitals. America would benefit from a greater ability to attempt the same.
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