America Brings Its Rivals Together

From North Korea to China to Russia to Iran, when bad guys do things you don’t like, your analysis must goes a deeper than “They hate us for our freedom”

“Quartet of chaos.”

“Authoritarian axis.”

“Evil quad.”

“Authoritarian quad.”

“New Gang of Four.”

When *very serious* people start using these kinds of labels, the discourse is broken. And any media outlet that accommodates evil branding in lieu of analysis is part of the problem.

You might’ve seen news that North Korea has been sending troops to Ukraine, to fight on Russia’s side. Upwards of 3,000 troops.

This move elicited as much head-scratching from the media as it did cries of “Escalation!” from flag-waving pundits who were quick to brand this as part of a menacing pattern. To wit:

This is the least useful way of understanding what’s happening.

When bad guys do things you don’t like, you have to have an analysis that goes a little deeper than “They hate us for our freedom.” What does it mean to say that North Korea sending troops to Ukraine is an “escalation,” besides an excuse for the West itself to feel moral innocence while it further escalates itself?

Primacy Encourages Enemies

You can’t make sense of North Korean troops in Ukraine without accounting for a series of parallel global developments: