China Used Iran and Others for Years to Distract the West, and Thats About to Change

ViewpointsOpinionTwo F/A-18 Super Hornets launch from the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Mediterranean Sea in support of Operation Epic Fury, on March 3, 2026. U.S. Navy via Getty ImagesBryan Brulotte3/13/2026|Updated: 3/13/20260:00CommentaryFor the better part of the past decade, China’s leadership has operated on a single strategic assumption: that the West is in decline.