The CRINK in U.S. Foreign Policy
A new, autocratic “axis of anti-freewill” is ascendant on the world stage.
Introducing the CRINK.
In some chiropractic terminology, crink is considered as a combination of a crick (which describes a pain in the neck) and a kink (which describes a sharp twist). So, using this as an analogy to describe the state of a big part of our contemporary international relations, CRINK aptly encapsulates our most prominent foreign policy threat. CRINK is akin to a growing tumor — whether it turns out to be benign or malignant in the long term will depend on how we deal with the threat.
About five months after the 9/11 attacks on the homeland, President George W. Bush had famously outlined an “axis of evil” at his State of the Union address on January 29, 2002. It then consisted of Iran, Iraq and North Korea — who in Bush’s view were authoritarian countries that sponsored terrorism and pursued weapons of mass destruction in pursuit of their rabid anti-American agenda. More than two decades later, that “axis of evil” has morphed into an “axis of anti-freewill,” a more potent and powerful group of countries, which can be encapsulated in the acronym, CRINK. This contemporary “axis of anti-freewill” includes China, Russia, Iran and North Korea — a lineup that closely resembles the order of the threat that each of these ideologically aligned nations represents to the post-WWII international order.
CRINK turns up the volume.
China has been flexing its muscle throughout the Indo-Pacific with various Asian countries for several years now. But it had never so blatantly intruded into the U.S. mainland with its reconnaissance efforts — as I had discussed in my February 12, 2023, commentary, “Bursting the Balloon — “State Capitalism” Farce That Empowered China.”
A month later on March 14, 2023, as the New York Times reported, we had “a Russian fighter jet colliding with an unarmed U.S. reconnaissance drone on Tuesday, forcing the American aircraft down into the Black Sea.”
Even as China and Russia were getting more confrontational with the United States, China was simultaneously seeking to establish itself as the new go-to peace maker on the global stage. On March 10, 2023, China surprised the world with an announcement that it had brokered a peace deal to restore relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The next day, New York Times lamented in its report:
“The Americans, who have been the central actors in the Middle East for the past three-quarters of a century, almost always the ones in the room where it happened, now find themselves on the sidelines during a moment of significant change. The Chinese, who for years played only a secondary role in the region, have suddenly transformed themselves into the new power player.”
This was a victory for China in no uncertain terms — it had not only managed to get the two arch enemies of the Muslim world, Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran, to reestablish diplomatic relations, but also succeeded in further diluting Washington’s influence over Riyadh. However, the Atlantic’s Michal Schuman’s cautioned in his March 14, 2023 analysis, “China Plays Peacemaker:”
“China could reorganize the geopolitical map of the world. Countries that have historically been wary of Washington may gravitate toward the U.S.; India is a prime example. But others that have been aligned with Washington may tilt in the opposite direction as their interests and economic relationships change.”
Meanwhile, in response to ongoing joint military drills by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in cooperation with various allied nations, North Korea has continued to pursue launching missiles over Japan and South Koreaon a periodic basis over the past several months.
Anti-U.S. world order in the making.
Some deceptive relief in CRINK’s rising tide came when, as reported on March 17, 2023, by Reuters:
“The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant on Friday against Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.”
As if in defiance of the ICC’s unprecedented action, Reuters reported on March 19, 2023, that:
“A day after being accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court, President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol, scene of some of the worst devastation of his year-old invasion.”
On that same day, the Washington Post in a report, “As Xi visits Russia, Putin sees his anti-U.S. world order taking shape,” warned:
“For Vladimir Putin, the state visit to Russia by Chinese President Xi Jinping, which begins on Monday, provides a giant morale boost and a chance to showcase the much-vaunted new world order that the Russian leader believes he is forging through his war on Ukraine — in which the United States and NATO can no longer dictate anything to anyone.”
The Post report went on to add:
“Xi’s visit comes as Moscow and Tehran have drawn much closer, with Russia relying on Iran for self-detonating drones to attack Ukrainian cities. Meanwhile, hope has faded for a resuscitation of the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, raising a risk that Iran will soon acquire nuclear weapons, further destabilizing global security.
Putin and Xi have much in common: their own self-serving definitions of democracy and market economics; a disdain for human rights; a fear of civic engagement by the general public; and, most of all, a desire to end U.S. global dominance and to reshape international organizations and norms to suit Chinese and Russian interests.”
Whether it’s Russia’s or China’s purported new world order is irrelevant, the CRINK axis is a major threat to the United States and its allies. As Michael Schuman cautioned in his analysis:
“With its closer ties to Russia and Iran, as well as its long-standing support of North Korea, China is a major patron of the world’s three most destabilizing states. The Iran-Saudi deal aside, there have been few indications that Beijing intends to use its influence to rein in these countries’ most dangerous designs. Until it does, China’s new order will be anything but peaceful.”
So, how do the United States and its allies respond to this growing CRINK in their collective craw is the question?
Global alliance of like-minded democracies.
The CRINK axis is undoubtedly the biggest foreign policy challenge faced by the United States, since the birth of the Soviet Union and the onset of the Cold War. Unlike the Cold War, the CRINK challenge is not simply a threat to the west; it’s a global threat, which needs a global solution. There are several strategic actions the United States, its western alliance partners, and other allied democracies can take to make a global solution possible. Here are a few of them:
1. Charity begins at home and politics stops at the water’s edge. It’s about time Democrats and Republicans presented a united front on the Ukraine War. Domestic opposition to the Ukraine War provides Putin with an incentive to wait out the current U.S. administration’s efforts to stop an illegal expansion of the “Russian empire.” This neo-USSR dream has been Putin’s long-desired objective, but which is against our and our allies’ security interests.
2. The U.S and its western allies needs to change the long-standing focus of the post-WWII international order from a Euro-centric/western alliance to a more inclusive global alliance focus that includes select nations of the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East, South America and the African continent.
3. Ukraine should be promptly admitted as a full-fledged member into the Europe Union so that its application as a member of NATO can then be quickly taken up for consideration.
4. Based on President Biden’s repeated assurances to defend Taiwan, Congress should codify defense of the larger South China maritime perimeter into law by passing an appropriate AUMF (Authorization for Use of Military Force) resolution that will deter China from any rash actions in the region.
5. The U.S. should institute a NATO-style military alliance for the Indo-Pacific to include all like-minded democracies of that vast region.
The five actions outlined above provide a robust start towards dealing with an increasingly global threat posed by the CRINK axis. We can ill-afford a new Cold War with the CRINK axis, but we can make it a redundant proposition by dealing proactively with the threat that CRINK poses to civilization as we know it. It is incumbent upon the United States to ensure that a new international order based on a global alliance of like-minded democracies thrives for the rest of the 21st century and beyond.
