Closer China-Russia Ties Suggest Dangers of ‘Axis of Unfreedom’
The apparent alliance of Russia and China, however strained, and their friendly ties with Iran raise dangers for America and its friends and allies that American leaders have been ignoring until recently.
“Who rules the Heartland rules the World Island. Who rules the World Island commands the world.” So wrote the geography professor and occasional member of Parliament Halford Mackinder in his 1919 book “Democratic Ideals and Reality.”
Mackinder’s Heartland was vaguely defined to include the Eurasian landmass from central Europe eastward across Siberia and the Himalayas to eastern China. And while it hasn’t dominated the world since — it glaringly excludes the United States — it still has great weight in what Mackinder called “the lands of outer or insular crescent.”
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