The free world teeters on the edge of a knife
This is not a post that I ever wanted — or, to be honest, expected — to write. I am an optimist by nature, and I am also not an expert on geopolitics. And yet the trends are so obviously dire, and so few people seem to recognize the danger, that I feel like I have to keep sounding the alarm and hoping that someone out there is listening.
The partnership of authoritarian states that I’ve been calling the New Axis is very real, and it is making moves. A large number of North Korean soldiers — reports put them at 10,000 to 12,000 — have been dispatched to fight on Russia’s behalf in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Chinese companies have now been found manufacturing weapons for Russia’s war effort, adding to Iranian and North Korean supplies. Military ties between China and Russia seem to be increasing, with Russia’s defense minister saying the two countries have “a common understanding of what needs to be done”.
Meanwhile, China just carried out its most aggressive and extensive military exercises around Taiwan yet, surrounding the island with what looks to most observers like practice for a blockade or invasion:
