The iron triangle of horror: An Arte documentary explains the growing closeness between Russia, China and Iran. And paints a terrifying version of the near future.

From a Russian perspective, the world is different. The war in Ukraine? “A war is being waged against us and we are forced to react,” says Sergei Karaganov, adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin on foreign policy and defense. “We are not fighting against Ukraine, we are fighting against NATO. And against the West. And we will win.”

Strong words that can be dismissed as old-man boasting, as an attempt to give the Russian attack on Ukraine greater significance and a cheap narrative – and to preemptively justify further action against NATO members: NATO is “an alliance of aggressors,” says Karagov. And Russia must defend itself against them, if necessary on Ukrainian soil: “Now we are punishing this bandit organization. We will no longer allow it to expand its area of ​​control.”

It is bad enough that the political elite in Russia thinks this way, or at least spreads this way of thinking. But what is even more fatal is that two other autocratic states, China and Iran, are positioning themselves against the West. They are united in their efforts to “build an economically more stable and fairer world,” Karaganov declares, completely without irony.

The war in Ukraine has brought this unfortunate alliance to light, postulates the Arte documentary “Russia, China, Iran: Front against the West” (available in the media library until June 27). The political experts who have their say in the documentary agree: China’s economic power, Russia’s military ruthlessness and Iran’s religious fanaticism add up to a highly problematic mixture for the West.

Since 2023, Iran has also been part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), founded in 2001, which, in addition to Russia and China, also includes countries such as India, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Pakistan. There is talk of an “iron triangle” between Beijing, Moscow and Tehran, which is linked by hatred of the USA and a shared aversion to the democratic idea.

The documentary speaks of a “bromance” between Putin and Xi Jinping, of a real male friendship – with Iran as the somewhat quirky guy who is allowed to play along because he can be useful.

The West did not want to see all of this for a long time – too long. Joe Biden, who was visiting Moscow as a senator in the late 1990s, described a Russian-Chinese rapprochement as nonsense. An arrogance that may one day cost the Western world dearly. Or as Putin whisperer Karaganov puts it: “One can only regret the intellectual abilities of the American elite.”

It doesn’t necessarily have to be armed war. Hacker attacks, disinformation campaigns, election interference, trolls – all of these Russian efforts have only one goal: to create chaos in Western countries and destabilize democracy. If you look at the debates on social media or various Telegram channels, you can quickly see how successful these divisive measures already are.

In 2023, the CIA and other Western intelligence agencies have placed the regimes of Russia, China and Iran at the top of the list of the greatest threats to the Western world. Sweden is at the top of Russia’s list of potential targets, the documentary reports. The Koran burnings in Stockholm in 2023, which are most likely the work of Russia, are aimed at stirring up sentiment in Islamic countries against the Scandinavian country and dividing NATO. The war begins well before the official start of the war.

Anyone who still believes that Russia has good intentions should listen a little longer to Sergei Karaganov: “Democracy is clearly one of the worst forms of government there is,” he says with a smile and announces: “We are developing a new concept of human rights that will correspond to the true needs of people and the new humanism to the greatest extent possible.” Anyone who doesn’t get goosebumps when faced with such statements is beyond help.