It’s hard to nail down an exact date, but World War III started roughly 15 years ago.
At the time, America's position as the leader of the free world looked rather shaky.
Costly and ultimately fruitless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan had devolved into a failed exercise of imperial force. Meanwhile, the global financial crisis badly undermined America’s reputation and role as the central pillar of the global economy.
Amid this chaos, Russia, China, and Iran began to really feel their oats.
China at the time was coasting on its rapid economic development.
Despite much of it being smoke and mirrors, China was hailed as the future, an “economic miracle,” and an ascendant superpower poised to challenge and even supersede America at the top of the global pecking order.
This resulted in a more confrontational Beijing.
China defied international law to claim the entirety of the South China Sea as its own. It then built a chain of artificial islands and military bases to enforce that claim.
The country’s economic footprint expanded as well, with splashy investments in Africa, South America, and Central Asia.
Russia, meanwhile, was riding high on a tidal wave of capital wrought by its energy sector. Join Wealth Daily today for FREE. We’ll keep you on top of all the hottest investment ideas before they hit Wall Street. Become a member today, and get our latest free report: “How to Make Your Fortune in Stocks”The Best Free Investment You’ll Ever Make
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The country accrued a fat stack of reserves as prices for uranium, coal, and oil soared to staggering highs. This enabled it to spend lavishly on social programs and its military.
Vladimir Putin, who effectively took over as head of state in 2000, was still working to establish himself as Russia’s new strongman.
Seriously, this was Vladimir Putin in 2009…
Look how hard he’s working to show you who Europe’s daddy is.
Part and parcel to that was a move away from the post-Cold War rapprochement with the West.
Russia would play the role of loser no more.
The Kremlin had stewed for years as it watched former Soviet states defect to NATO.
Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Romania were all welcomed into the Western alliance in 2004. They were soon followed by Croatia and Albania in 2009.
No more.
When NATO agreed to consider Georgia’s application for membership in 2008, Russia invaded — presaging what would come to be in Ukraine.
And finally, the United States’ failed effort to bring democracy and order to Iraq proved to be a boon for Iran.
Two seemingly endless Middle Eastern wars overwhelmed America’s appetite for involvement in the eternally chaotic region.
And the only tangible result is that the United States did Iran a huge favor by eliminating its chief regional adversary and blood rival.
As America withdrew, Iran rushed in, filling the vacuum with hard-line fundamentalist beliefs and warlord proxies that continue to sow chaos and discord to this day.
And we saw the end result of the country’s political and military expansion last week when Iranian-backed militants launched an abhorrent terrorist attack on Israel.
Not even the Israeli state, mind you, but the citizens — innocent people.
It was so vile you’d think you’d be hard-pressed to find any country that wouldn’t condemn such a despicable act of terror…
And yet there they stood, all three of them — Russia, China, and Iran — refusing to do just that.
Condemn it?
How could they?
They’re glad it happened.
They staged it.
Iran’s been propping up Hamas (and various other proxy groups) for decades, feeding them cash, weapons, and intelligence.
It’s all part of a sprawling effort to check Saudi Arabia’s power and ensure that Israel is never accepted as a state.
That mission was threatened earlier this year by a U.S.-brokered deal that aimed to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Of course, this latest bout of bloodshed has now thrown that into doubt.
Meanwhile, Russia is positively thrilled with this development.
It’s drawn Western attention and resources away from Ukraine.
It’s a genuine muscle flex from one of its few remaining allies and another thumb in the West's eye.
Like I said, this is what Russia, China, and Iran want.
All three have grown closer these past 15 years, uniting against a common foe.
And to be fair, they’ve kind of had to to circumvent all the economic sanctions they’re wrapped up in.
You see, over the past two decades, the United States has come to rely on sanctions rather than military intervention as its main foreign policy lever (another consequence of those costly early-century wars in Iraq and Afghanistan).
It began with North Korea, but the effort has really expanded into a worldwide web of red tape.
Iran has been sanctioned for its nuclear program, Russia for its annexation of Crimea and invasion of greater Ukraine, and China has been sanctioned for spying and human rights abuses.
No wonder these three global pariahs found common cause.
They’re constantly leaning on each other to navigate the ever-growing maze of sanctions designed to undermine their respective economies.
Russia and Iran partner on energy projects, developing resources they can easily offload to China.
And all three exchange everything from intelligence to technology to weapons platforms to currencies to political cover…
You name it.
It’s all in the name of ending the U.S.-led order.
Make no mistake, this war between Israel and Palestine would not be happening if these three countries didn’t set the stage for it.
Truly, though, this is just another link in the chain intended to ensnare the American colossus.
Russia, China, and Iran are directly attacking the countries and assets that the West supports only indirectly.
For them, it’s an all-out assault.
For us, it’s something we don’t really want to deal with.
No one actually wants to confront this axis or call it what it is because the implication is too great and the stakes are too high.
But it will come home.
At some point, a red line will have to be drawn…
And then all hell will break loose.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times…
Load up on defense contractors.
Better still, join me at Secret Stock Files, where I cover all the latest military technology — technology that inevitably makes huge amounts of money when it breaks into the private sector.
In fact, I just released a brand-new video detailing a secret Israeli military unit that’s responsible for some of the biggest technological advances of the past 10 years.
I guarantee you it's spearheading Israel’s retaliation against Hamas…
And probably doing a lot more than that.
Fight on,
Jason Simpkins
Simpkins is the founder and editor of Secret Stock Files, an investment service that focuses on companies with assets — tangible resources and products that can hold and appreciate in value. He covers mining companies, energy companies, defense contractors, dividend payers, commodities, staples, legacies and more…
In 2023 he joined The Wealth Advisory team as a defense market analyst where he reviews and recommends new military and government opportunities that come across his radar, especially those that spin-off healthy, growing income streams. For more on Jason, check out his editor’s page.
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