The Anti-West: An Axis in Need of Oiling

Iran, Russia and Venezuela collaborated on some security matters designed to keep the US in its place, but have since discovered the need for an economically strong US. A global economic crisis that began in the US, starting with a decline in housing prices and the default of high-risk mortgages, expanded into a credit freeze and a decline in oil prices. Sinking oil prices or limited output forces the trio, nicknamed the “axis of diesel” in an article from the Economist, to focus on matters close to home and reduce expenditures overseas. The Economist notes that countries dependent on income from a limited natural resource face a choice: reduced influence overseas or reduced popularity at home. Leaders may point fingers of blame at the US, but their citizens may also wonder why governments could not plan ahead. “The leaders of the oily trio may have thought high oil prices were an adequate substitute for good governance,” the Economist notes. “In many quarters, the difference is now painfully clear.” – YaleGlobal