QUESTION: How will the China/Iran economic and security partnership deal impact US national security? We asked former CIA officer Douglas London @douglaslondon5 . Follow this thread for his answer. 
ANSWER: “This is less a new partnership and rather a reflection of the increasing willingness of great power rivals China and Russia and regional actors alike to challenge U.S. interests in areas where it previously exerted leadership and greater influence.
Iran has traditionally sought to balance its reliance on the West by turning to China and Russia whose measured responses demonstrated wariness of economic, military and political consequences in provoking the U.S. Greater American unilateralism and...
its retreat from global leadership encourages tests of heretofore U.S. red lines and a new acquiescence to such challenges.
Such a dynamic could lead to miscalculations and further brinkmanship in volatile areas with unpredictable and possibly costly consequences to U.S. national security.
In the meantime, greater willingness of Russia and China to share intelligence, training and enhance Iran’s offensive and defensive military capabilities...
while bolstering its economy, undermines U.S. options to leverage Iran’s vulnerabilities to influence its behavior and safeguard American interests.”
You can learn more about Douglas London here: linkedin.com/in/douglas-lon…
You can learn more about Douglas London here: linkedin.com/in/douglas-lon…
If you have a question about national security, follow @NatSecAnswers, send us your question and we'll get the answer. @threadreaderapp unroll #A12 @GeorgetownCSS
