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Abstract
This essay discusses the emergence of Iran and North Korea as revisionist powers. The partnership between Tehran and Pyongyang presents a strategic challenge to US dominance in the Post-Cold War era. The ideological, transactional, and strategic drivers of Iran’s deadly alliance with North Korea are identified. The unsettling consequences of this revisionist partnership are felt across the Mideast. North Korean assistance for Iran’s missile and militia strategy advances Tehran efforts to dominate the Middle East. No American Administration has effectively responded to the geo- military challenges this partnership portends. This essay discusses Iran and North Korea as revisionist powers. The partnership between Tehran and Pyongyang presents a strategic challenge to US dominance in the Post-Cold War era. The ideological, transactional, and strategic drivers of Iran’s deadly alliance with North Korea are analyzed. The unsettling consequences of this revisionist partnership are felt across the Mideast. North Korean assistance for Iran’s missile and militia strategy advances Tehran efforts to dominate the Middle East. No American Administration has effectively responded to the geo-military challenges this partnership portends. Iran’s defiance parallels North Korean resistance to diplomatic efforts to divest Pyongyang of its nuclear weapons. Despite its enfeebled economy, the regime has increased its nuclear military capability. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) proliferation of conventional arms, weapon systems and platforms to Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, and Hamas provide a critical financial windfall for Kim’s tyrannical rule. This revisionist alliance desires to upend the liberal global order. The reemergence of great power competition is recognized in US national security doctrine documents. 1 A struggle that analysts argue the United States is ill prepared to manage. Rising revisionist powers seek to weaken the US dominated global and regional order. Since no one revisionist power can militarily challenge American interests, they cooperate to undermine America’s global position. Iran’s military cooperation with Russia in Syria for example has assured the Assad regime’s preservation furthering Moscow’s and Tehran’s regional influence. 2 Russia’s air support for Islamic Revolutionary Guard- Quds Force (IRGC-QF), the Syrian army and Hezbollah helped quell the Sunni dominated rebel insurgency.