China, Russia and Iran: The empires strike back

Let’s play Jeopardy! The answer: “All were great empires in the past, and all now have rulers determined to establish great empires in the future.” And the question is: “What are China, Russia and Iran?”

China is ruled by a Communist, Russia by a hyper-nationalist, and Iran by an Islamist. All three seek to restore what they consider their rightful realms, and all see the U.S. as their biggest obstacle. It’s on this basis that they now have a flourishing alliance. No surprise that American diplomats speaking softly and carrying carrots instead of sticks fail to achieve progress with any of them.

Those who proclaim themselves jihadis of various stripes also intend to establish an empire, along with a caliphate, in the image of those that dominated much of the world for more than a thousand years.

By the way, though not an adversary, Turkey, the heartland of the former Ottoman Empire, has become America’s least reliable and most problematic ally since Recep Tayyip Erdogan became its neo-sultan.