Glenn Diesen: Wars Bring Together Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan & North Korea

Glenn Diesen:  Wars Bring Together Russia, China, Iran, Pakistan & North Korea

The first third of today’s discussion was directed at the title subject, namely the growing consolidation of what is a military alliance in all but name between these five Asian powers. The principal source for what I said was last night’s Vladimir Solovyov talk show which featured top level Russian academic Orientalists.

I stress that the Solovyov shows are ‘hit or miss’ in terms of value, with a goodly number of wasted evenings and then the occasional highly valuable event such as last night. We were told that China is now shipping a lot of military hardware to Iran in return for the large quantities of oil it receives from Iran. The hardware includes fighter jets, latest generation air defense installations and a lot more. Moreover, China’s readiness to fight, if necessary, to ensure that Iran is not defeated by Israel, by the United States, was demonstrated by its sending a naval task force to the Gulf in the final days of the Iran-Israeli war – set to attack the U.S. navy if necessary. Surely this signal was not missed by Washington.

In the words of the panelists last night, Pakistan is ready to send to Iran any and all military supplies that it requires.  Considering that Pakistan is a long-established nuclear power, I suggest that delivery of nuclear bombs to Iran should not be excluded if Iran comes under existential threat. From this angle, the total focus of attention by the United States and other Western powers on the levels of enrichment of uranium going on in Iran is foolishness.  Why build when at any moment you can buy?

The other interesting appraisal of the aforementioned ‘axis’ pertains to North Korea, which is said to be seen in its neighborhood as very powerful, far more than you would imagine if The New York Times was your only source of information. Indeed, there is reason to think that South Korea is recalibrating its defense posture given that fact and the equivocal nature of the security guaranties it enjoys from Donald Trump’s USA.

Otherwise, my discussion with Professor Diesen also turned on the question of Russia’s new, massive aerial bombardments on Ukraine. More than 728 drones and numerous missiles were fired at Ukrainian cities a day ago and that number is rising daily, while in addition there is now large-scale use of glide bombs by the Russians to destroy Ukrainian fortified positions.  The Russians are now attacking heavily the Western Ukraine, meaning Lvov and the area between Lvov and the Polish border where incoming shipments of arms from the West are stored for transshipment east to the front. The threat is being felt by the Poles, so that their president Duda yesterday said Poland is considering stopping the use of their airport in the southeastern corner of their country as the hub for Western arms shipments to Ukraine.

What is the meaning of the new Russian aggressiveness?  I believe it is a clear signal to German chancellor Merz to watch out because Russia is ready for war and will defend its red lines with overwhelming military force.  Why Merz?  Because as we heard from Vladimir Solovyov last night, ‘he is a Nazi.”  That appears to be the new Kremlin line: Germany has replaced the United States as Russia’s enemy number one and Nazism is back in power in Berlin.

©Gilbert Doctorow, 2025