<i>A ‘Soft’ Balancing Ménage à Trois?</i> China, Iran and Russia Strategic Triangle vis-à-vis US Hegemony
Journal: Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs
Year: 2023

The recent rapprochement among China, Iran and Russia reveals the emergence of a new, unexpected, regional strategic triangle with the potential to balance the United States’ dominant position. By focusing on the evolution of this strategic triangle in the post-Cold War period, this article investigates the driving forces that bring the three states together, namely the US power and unilateralism as materialised in NATO’s eastward expansion, the sanctions on Russia after the annexation of Crimea