The authoritarian axis of China, Russia, Iran (and smaller partners like North Korea and various terrorist organizations), has pulled off some incredible propaganda victories over the free world.
They’ve done so by convincing many people to side with one part of the Axis over the other, and to see the Axis as disconnected.
For example, there are some on the right who vehemently oppose China and Iran while identifying with Russia.
Others on the left support Iran and China while opposing Russia.
This makes a coherent response to the Axis nearly impossible, since an effective response depends upon seeing the interconnections between all three hostile anti-Western governments.
This has happened for two key reasons:
First, we have been incredibly naive about the scope of information operations being conducted against us. Russia, China, and Iran have flooded Western social media with their propaganda, designed to keep us internally divided and twist public perception in favour of the regimes. There has been little to no response from Western governments, and little to no push for social media firms to shut down the propaganda accounts. Thus, we are losing a one-sided propaganda war because we aren’t even fighting back.
Second, our leaders have done a poor job connecting the dots for the public. How many Canadians are aware that China is helping Russia mass-produce drones for use against Ukraine?
“Russia is catching up to Ukraine in drone production thanks to greater financial resources, production lines far from the front lines and especially help from China, a senior Ukrainian official told POLITICO.
“Chinese manufacturers provide them with hardware, electronics, navigation, optical and telemetry systems, engines, microcircuits, processor modules, antenna field systems, control boards, navigation. They use so-called shell companies, change names, do everything to avoid being subject to export control and avoid sanctions for their activities,” said Oleh Aleksandrov, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Intelligence Service. “Yet officially, China sticks to all the rules. Yet only officially.”
What about Russia offering itself as a safe haven for Iranian regime figures, just as it did for the brutal Assad regime when Syria was liberated?
And what about China expressing support for Iran?
“China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi held phone calls with his Israeli and Iranian counterparts today, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry says in separate statements.
Wang told Iran’s Abbas Araghchi that China would support Tehran in “defending its legitimate rights and interests,” the ministry says, while he told Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar that Beijing opposed Israel’s actions of “attacking Iran with force,” the statements says.”
Russia also condemned Israel’s strikes on Iran:
“In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry denounced Israel’s overnight attacks as “unprovoked military strikes” targeting a sovereign U.N. member’s nuclear facilities. The ministry said the international community “cannot remain indifferent” to such actions that undermine global and regional stability.”
The hypocrisy here is off the charts, given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and deliberate targeting of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
Beyond the hypocrisy, however, we can see a certain logic (albeit an incredibly brutal and cynical one) behind the statements made by Russia and China as Israel strikes against a regime that has repeatedly threatened Israel’s destruction.
Russia, China, and Iran believe they should be able to get away with whatever they want in the service of their goal of overturning the current world order. They want free nations to remain divided and unable to act coherently. They want to use fear to stem resistance. Thus, when countries like Israel and Ukraine fight back and defend their right to exist, or when people express support for the freedom of Hong Kong, the independence of Taiwan, and the right of the Iranian people to be free of oppression, the authoritarian axis identifies this as a threat to their narrative and objectives.
The West must wake up to this reality: Russia, China, and Iran are already acting like they are in conflict with us. Our refusal to accept this and our desire to avoid this won’t make it go away. The best we can do is to internalize it, adjust to it, and respond accordingly, with a substantial military buildup, and tangible (rather than just rhetorical), support for nations like Israel and Ukraine that are on the frontlines of the fight, while also taking security measures within our country to stem the flow of propaganda designed to manipulate our citizens.
Spencer Fernando
Image – YouTube
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