Countering Asia's Axis of Authoritarianism

Authoritarian regime-survival anxiety, not conventional power-balancing, is the primary driver behind China, North Korea, and Russia's escalating alignment against the US-led order.

• Regime survival drives behavior: Greitens argues dictators rarely lose power over foreign policy failures but over internal threats, making regime security—not global power projection—the core logic behind Xi Jinping's and Kim Jong Un's strategic choices.
• Paranoia scales with power: Per CCP's own framing, growing Chinese power makes the party feel less secure, not more, driving heightened repression at home and assertiveness abroad since Xi's 2014 security doctrine.

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