Originally Posted by
Uplinker
Please tell me I am imagining all this and am just having a bad dream.
You are imagining this and you are just having a bad dream.
It pretty likely is less constructed and more the result of ongoing trends and problems plus individual considerations. Covid and the hasty retreat from Afghanistan plus political instabilities due to people in Western Countries becoming dissatisfied by Globalsiation (Loss of self esteem providing industry jobs to cheaper Countries + only small elites really profiting) plus overboarding Migration (>20% of the population in many Western Countries have a migration background of max 2 Generations) had seemingly opened a 'Window of opportunity' for Putin. For Xi this rather came too early. Putin has wakened up the West before he could create facts in Taiwan. Iran is free riding with Russia binding Western Ressources and is having huge difficulties at home which they urgently need to cover with an external foe.