Iran, China, and Russia: The Emerging Anti-U.S. Nexus?

The post-Cold War world has been in existence for more than a decade; however, Iran, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and Russia still find the situation unsettling. Some of the reasons underlying their dissatisfaction are region-specific. But the most significant and unifying variable is that all three of them resent the dominant status of the United States in the realms of politics, economics, and military power at the global level. They perceive US dominance in their respective regions as constraining and even deleterious to their own strategic ambitions. In contrast to the Cold War years, the current balance-of-power-related tug-and-pull among nations is neither based on ideology nor led by two superpowers. But, as in the Cold War years, the international struggle of this century will be driven by a desire to seek military and economic dominance within and across various regions. In this ongoing struggle, Iran, China, and Russia are striving to improve their status by using the nexus that is evolving between them.