One could be forgiven for throwing up hands in despair at the multitude, severity, complexity, and convergence of threats the United States and its allies now face. From China, Russia, and Iran striving together to subvert the world order, to the worldwide rise of authoritarianism, human rights abuses and religious persecution, to fast-growing nuclear and missile threats, to a deluge of propaganda targeting the West, challenges to the Free World are formidable. Add to all this the malign acts and actors in the domains of cyber, energy, and space, along with the menace of transnational terrorism and trafficking, and the picture becomes more concerning. Renewed great power rivalry, heightened grey zone warfare, and escalating hostilities and atrocities in global hotspots call for a resolute, principled, and wise American foreign policy.

Metastasizing threats expose both the erosion of the post-World War II American foreign policy framework and the inadequacies of post-Cold War policies. Reeling from the horrors and devastation of fascism and total war, America resolved to stop expansionist aggression in its tracks and counter extremist ideologies with ideas of political liberty and human rights. During the Cold War, inspiring presidential speeches for freedom, the Voice of America radio broadcast, and U.S. leadership in democracy initiatives and international organizations existed alongside robust military alliances. But, after the Cold War, democracies let down their guard while enemies of freedom seized the day. Insufficient deterrence and resolve; modern relativism and uncertainty about what the Free World stands for and why; and the susceptibility of open, digital age societies to demagoguery and disinformation created openings for anti-democratic powers.

Today, the ideas that we will “never again” ignore intensifying dangers to our humanity and our security and that a Pax Americana will preserve the rules-based international order have been overtaken by reality. Russia’s success (along with Iran and Hezbollah) in saving murderous Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, its war of conquest in Ukraine, and China’s rapid and massive military build-up and planned subjugation of Taiwan, are among the indicators that we live in a very different world from the one envisioned when the Berlin Wall collapsed. The fact that there are now prison camps in China, North Korea, and Russia to rival those under twentieth-century totalitarianism adds to the disheartening picture. So does the fact that China is steadfastly increasing its nuclear and missile arsenal while North Korean and Iranian nuclear and missile programs are progressing alarmingly.

Furthermore, China’s seat on the UN Human Rights Council and Iran’s leadership of the Council’s Social Forum are glaring reminders of the UN’s deviation from its stated ideals. So too is the way authoritarian regimes succeed in obstructing UN penalties for each other’s extreme human rights violations and breaches of international protocols.

Authoritarian Defense Cooperation

China, Russia, and Iran provide diplomatic cover for the foreign policy misdeeds of each other and constitute an anti-Western axis. Their expansive partnerships enhance the power of all three and impair U.S. influence. They benefit from trade, weapon and technology transfers, joint military exercises, and sanctions breaches. Their militaries recently participated in a third trilateral drill in the Gulf of Oman and the North Arabian Sea. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian recently announced that the comprehensive strategic accord forged last year between Iran and China has entered into force. China and Russia implicitly support Iran’s brutal crackdown on brave protestors, and China provides Iran with technology for repression.

Iran supplies attack drones and munitions, while China provides dual-use rifles, body armor, drones, and financial support, for Russia’s ferocious assault on Ukraine. The only “peace” China wants in Ukraine will advantage Russia and strengthen Chinese influence over Europe. Trade between China and Russia rose to $190 billion last year, and China’s imports of Russian energy have increased to $88 billion since Russia launched a full-scale war. Building on Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin’s “unlimited partnership,” Chinese defense minister Li Shangfu recently pronounced that China and Russia would “expand military ties, military-technical ties and arms trade.”

Moreover, Pentagon officials have warned that Russia is providing highly enriched uranium for China’s rapidly expanding nuclear program, that Russia and China are producing space weapons to attack U.S. satellites and bypass U.S. missile defense systems, and that China’s overall military might is on a trajectory to surpass the United States.

Russia and China’s Growing Influence in the Middle East

In backing anti-democratic forces and dictators across the region, worst among them Syria’s murderous Bashar al-Assad, Russia and Iran have pushed the Middle East backward. China, until recently, acted behind the scenes to capitalize on the growing vacuum of U.S. influence. Now it energetically concludes commercial and strategic deals across the Middle East. The recent strengthening of energy, defense, economic and technological partnerships between China and Saudi Arabia and the détente between Saudi Arabia and Iran negotiated by Beijing are on everyone’s mind. Especially bad for human rights, the Saudi-led Arab League member states agreed to a statement endorsing China’s “efforts” and “position” in Hong Kong and “rejecting Taiwan’s independence in all its forms.”

China’s peacemaker status gives it another wedge against America’s hard and soft power and another step forward in creating a China-oriented world order. China’s trade with the Middle East now exceeds that of the United States.

The deterioration of U.S. relations with regional partners and allies like Saudi Arabia and Turkey and Iran’s brazen regional provocations and steadily advancing nuclear program are signs of the times. The United States must, on the one hand, stand firmly against aggressors and atrocity committers and, on the other, cultivate partnerships with countries that, while less than ideal partners from our democratic perspective, can help deter the Free World’s gravest threats. Developing these partnerships need not preclude applying behind-the-scenes pressure regarding human rights nor making arms deals contingent upon basic alignment with American priorities.

Recalling how disparate malign forces capitalized on the conflict in Syria is helpful as we consider how to deal with emerging and converging threats today: Obama administration officials and Arab and European leaders sat idle and quiet as Assad’s brutal crackdown on peaceful protests turned into a war on civilians. They continued to do and say little after Iran and Russia entered the war on Assad’s side and Damascus’ terrible hostilities and atrocities escalated. The White House even entertained Russia’s supposed “peace plans,” which only bought Assad time and cover for more aggression.

Neglect by the United States and the international community under the Obama administration allowed Iran, Russia, and extremist groups, such as al-Nusra Front, Hezbollah, and ISIS, to grow in influence. The Trump administration focused on defeating ISIS but not on the whole confluence of threats. Instead, President Donald Trump continued the moral and strategic retreat trajectory emphasized by the simplistic mantras of avoiding “endless war” and “America First.” Thus, Russia attained power broker status in Syria and military bases from which it tested weapons now used against Ukraine. Iranian militias wreaked endless havoc in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, and elsewhere. Terror groups and drug traffickers gained new footholds. Today, Syria is not just a playground for extremists; it is a narco-state.

The appalling move of many Arab League countries and some Western countries toward normalizing relations with Assad, and President Joe Biden’s apparent acceptance of that trend, reveals an ongoing deficit of U.S. leadership. Making matters worse, the Biden administration failed to build on the Abraham Accords negotiated by the Trump administration and enacted the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. Pivots from one region to another that forget the worldwide interconnectedness of modern threats, simplistic equations of hard power with “boots on the ground” and soft power with “cultural appropriation” gave enemies vacuums to fill.

Global Infiltration

Iran, Russia, and China are not only united against the Free World: they’ve created worldwide partnerships with dictatorships and radical forces. Take Iran’s tangled web: Putin’s Belarusan ally Alexander Lukashenko recently visited Iran, where he and President Ebrahim Raisi signed a “cooperation roadmap document.” Iran arms and sponsors Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthi rebels in Yemen, and Shia militias in Iraq. To add to the complex inter-connectedness, Iran uses Syria as a hub for weapons proliferation, relies on bad actors in the UN to relieve pressure on its nuclear program, and benefits from a flourishing arms trade with North Korea.

China’s global network, combined with China’s formidable power, is particularly alarming. Having focused more on mutually profitable economic interaction than on the dramatic rise of China’s military might and geopolitical clout, the West now faces a significant threat to the Free World’s security and way of life. Western dependence on Chinese goods and supply chains and China’s major commercial agreements and loans on every continent augment Chinese power. China has spent over $900 billion on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure, transportation, and mining projects in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and beyond into Europe and the Americas. Despite setbacks, the BRI has led not only to new security agreements and ports and docking rights for China’s fast-expanding navy but also to the insidious expansion of Chinese information and surveillance technology. The China-Myanmar Economic Corridor and Cambodia’s Ream military base are among new avenues for China’s imperialistic drive.

With minimal pushback until recently, China embedded influencers in Western universities who advanced anti-American goals through Confucius Institutes, sinology programs, and joint scientific research. China has benefited from decades of aggressive espionage and intellectual property theft. Thus, another hazardous confluence we must address is that between certain Western elites and the Chinese government.

Russia, China, and Iran have all dramatically increased their footprint in South America with commercial investments, arms sales, and leasing deals that may lead to military installations. They, along with Cuba, support the extremist socialist dictatorships of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua. Russian militias and Iranian drones have helped Venezuela stamp out dissent. Venezuela even hosted Iranian, Russian, and Chinese war games in 2022. Honduras’s decision to drop diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Brazil’s enthusiasm for “deepening ties” with Beijing, and the spread of Confucius Institutes across the region, speak to China’s growing influence.

The alignment of diverse actors working against U.S. interests and the various methods they deploy compound the current challenge. Aggressors see proxy battles, cyber-attacks, energy blackmail, financial exploitation, political corruption, and criminal activity as weapons cooperating with military power. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea pose the world’s biggest cybersecurity threats, with relentless attacks on democracies. Russia is particularly adept at using paramilitary organizations and disinformation campaigns to destabilize, divide and dominate. China plays an especially strong hand in international organizations and fora. In addition to seeking predominance in, and corrupting, the UN, the WHO, the World Bank, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean states, Xi recently formed “Global Development,” “Global Security,” and “Global Civilization” initiatives.

The United States must capitalize on cases where China, Russia, and Iran have proven dangerous and duplicitous partners. Although more and more governments have sided with China, the Chinese people are usually leery of authoritarian power. America must again become a voice for the oppressed, a beacon of freedom, and a steadfast ally. China’s human rights abuses, especially its genocide of Uyghurs, are horrific. U.S. leaders should stress to non-aligned countries the dire human rights implications for their citizens and others of aligning with the Chinese Communist Party. The United States and its allies must accelerate defense spending, modernization, and military-strategic cooperation. They must demonstrate willingness and capacity to fight for Taiwan if necessary while at the same time working feverishly to deter and preempt China and avoid war.

NATO’s 2022 Annual Report, released this March, cites “the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security in decades” and “a more complex and volatile security environment.” The Baltic and Balkan states, in addition to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea zones, will be further vulnerable if Russia prevails in Ukraine. The Russian military has indeed suffered major setbacks and rejuvenated NATO, but Moscow and its allies see that Western military assistance was incremental. Moreover, the war in Ukraine has not stopped Russia from cyberattacks, information warfare, energy blackmail, and the cultivation of compromised leaders around Europe.

The Need for American Resolve

Adversaries have tested the U.S. resolve and found it lacking. Counting on Washington’s vacillation, they think they can outlast Washington. Indeed, the American response to fast-growing, often interconnected challenges to our security and way of life is too often lumbering, insufficient and unimaginative. Since the end of the Cold War, too few U.S. leaders can or do articulate what the Free World stands for and why. Too few accept the contingencies of hard power or appreciate the wisdom of “peace through strength.” Measures to deter Russia did not prevent hostilities, atrocities, and devastation. That should inform the American and allied deterrence of China and support for Taiwan.

China is pushing the idea of a new world order, and countless countries, international organizations, groups, and entities have, in one way or another, to a smaller or larger extent, signed on. In the meantime, the United States has lost momentum while remaining a great power. America too often appears uncertain or caught off guard. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs and increasing global human rights violations and aggression call for American foreign policy that prioritizes national security, global stability, defense alliances, economic initiatives, and human rights all at once.

It is tempting to ignore some threats for others, pivot away from some regions, or give adversaries the benefit of the doubt. But the Free World lacks that luxury, for enemies of freedom are separately and collectively relentless. Some wonder whether ambivalent and weary America has what it takes to rise to the current challenge. Post-Cold War American foreign policy has generally been reactive rather than preemptive, lacking grand strategy or inspiring rhetoric. The world suffers when American foreign policy is unwise or unreliable and would benefit from a foreign policy revival, one that builds upon America’s best post-World War II traditions and, at the same time, finds new-age solutions for post-Cold War challenges.

Anne R. Pierce is an author, commentator, and scholar of the American presidency, foreign policy, and society. With a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, Pierce is an appointed member of Princeton University’s James Madison Society and was a Political Science Series Editor for Transaction Publishers. Pierce has written three books and contributed to three others. Her articles have been published in The National Interest, USA Today, US News, The Hill, Washington Examiner, The Washington Times, Providence Magazine, Society, Fox News, Ricochet, World and I,  USEmbassy.gov, and elsewhere.

Image: Shutterstock.