Retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery is warning that the United States is not fully recognizing the scale of the strategic alignment among Iran, Russia, China, and North Korea. His argument, highlighted alongside the publication of the book Axis of Aggressors, frames the four countries as an increasingly important security problem for Washington and its partners.
The concern centers on how these governments are drawing closer in ways that can complicate US policy across several regions at once. Rather than viewing each country as a separate challenge, Montgomery’s warning suggests the bigger issue is their growing cooperation and the pressure that can place on the US and allied governments.
The topic comes at a time when policymakers are already balancing tensions in Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific. A deeper partnership among China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea could make those theaters more interconnected, raising the stakes for deterrence, military planning, and alliance coordination.
By presenting the issue through the lens of an “axis of aggressors,” Montgomery is urging a broader strategic response. The message is that US officials and allies may need to treat this relationship as a shared geopolitical challenge rather than a series of isolated threats.
