The New Axis of Autocracy: How Trump, Putin, and Xi Are Quietly Dividing the World

For the first time since its founding, NATO’s survival is in open doubt. European leaders are preparing for a world where the U.S. is no longer a guarantor of security. Taiwan, once protected by America’s military shield, now faces the same fate. Moscow and Beijing are watching, and they are moving.

This is not speculation. It is not a slow, evolutionary transition. It is an abrupt realignment of global power, taking shape in real-time. The question is no longer whether Trump, Putin, and Xi are working together. It is whether their aligned interests—whether by design or by opportunism—are accelerating the collapse of the U.S.-led global order faster than anyone expected.

Trump, Putin, and Xi are actively dismantling the post-WWII global order to carve the world into three authoritarian-controlled spheres of influence, with no regard for democratic values, global stability, or human rights.

A classified European defense briefing warns that without U.S. backing, NATO “will not survive the decade as a functional deterrent force.” Trump’s refusal to commit to NATO’s Article V has left European leaders scrambling to reassess their security dependencies. Direct U.S. negotiations with Putin—without NATO allies present—suggest a sidelining of the alliance that has defined Western security since World War II. At the same time, Trump has publicly questioned military aid to Ukraine, signaling a willingness to push Ukraine into negotiations on Russia’s terms, further legitimizing Russia’s territorial gains. These developments, combined with Trump’s trade war with European allies, have positioned Russia to act more aggressively while the U.S. turns its attention elsewhere.

Within weeks of Trump’s return, Russia expanded its military operations in Ukraine with renewed confidence, testing NATO’s limits in ways that seemed impossible just months ago. European allies, once reliant on unwavering U.S. support, now find themselves scrambling for alternative defense strategies. French President Emmanuel Macron has openly suggested that Europe must prepare for a “post-NATO” security structure, while Germany has quietly increased its defense spending in anticipation of reduced U.S. military support. If Trump continues to disengage, NATO may cease to function as a meaningful military alliance altogether.

This shift resembles past geopolitical turning points. Just as Britain’s failure in the 1956 Suez Crisis marked the end of its global empire, NATO’s fragmentation under Trump may mark the end of U.S. hegemony. But even that parallel may understate the scale of the transition. If NATO unravels, it will not be the decline of a single empire—it will be the unraveling of an entire geopolitical order.

With NATO in crisis, China has intensified its military posturing over Taiwan. A leaked discussion from China’s Central Military Commission suggests Beijing has already calculated a “Trump window”—a timeframe in which U.S. intervention in Taiwan would be least likely. Since Trump’s inauguration, Beijing has dramatically escalated military drills, encirclement exercises, and economic pressure on Taipei. A forced reunification is no longer an abstract possibility—it is an active, short-term strategy. Instead of reinforcing Taiwan’s defense, the U.S. has focused on economic leverage, particularly through threats of tariffs on Taiwan’s semiconductor industry.

Trump has threatened to impose tariffs ranging from 25% to 100% on Taiwan-made semiconductors, a move that would drastically reshape global supply chains. The intent is clear: to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and other chip producers to relocate production to the U.S. This mirrors past rhetoric against China—framing Taiwan not just as a strategic ally, but as an economic competitor.

This is not just an economic dispute—it is an existential crisis for Taiwan. Its semiconductor industry is not just its economy; it is its security guarantee. The U.S. has long relied on Taiwan’s technological dominance as a deterrent against a Chinese invasion. If that advantage is eroded, Taiwan’s vulnerability grows exponentially. Taipei now faces a two-front challenge: a China emboldened by U.S. hesitation and an America treating it as an economic adversary rather than a military ally. Beijing sees an opportunity, and Taipei knows it is running out of options.

Meanwhile, China’s global influence continues to expand. The Belt and Road Initiative has strengthened Beijing’s economic foothold across Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, ensuring long-term strategic partnerships beyond just military alliances. Additionally, China is deepening security ties through the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation—a bloc designed to counterbalance Western influence.

The economic pressure campaign against Taiwan is not happening in isolation. This same approach—using corporate leverage rather than direct military action—has surfaced in another unexpected arena: TikTok. Among the carefully arranged seating at Trump’s inauguration was TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, placed next to Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. In Washington, seating at high-profile events is never random—it reflects relationships, influence, and future intentions.

Trump has already shifted from wanting to ban TikTok to proposing that the U.S. take a financial stake in it—a reversal that aligns with the interests of powerful political donors, including Jeff Yass, a major investor in TikTok’s parent company ByteDance. An internal GOP memo reveals that Trump’s TikTok reversal was framed not as a national security issue, but as an election strategy to boost young voter outreach. This move raises serious national security concerns. Is TikTok being leveraged as a backchannel for U.S.-China relations under Trump?

Trump’s proposed U.S. sovereign wealth fund could lay the groundwork for the U.S. to acquire TikTok outright, keeping the platform in American hands while maintaining strong economic ties with China. ByteDance is currently valued at $300 billion, with TikTok alone worth between $50 and $100 billion. A government-backed acquisition of this scale would fundamentally reshape the global tech landscape and redefine how the U.S. exerts power—not through military alliances, but through corporate dominance.

The world order is no longer shifting—it has already shifted. The United States, Russia, and China have entered a new geopolitical reality: a tripolar world, where no single superpower dictates global stability.

The United States is abandoning its global policing role, focusing on hemispheric consolidation and using corporate leverage over military deterrence. Russia is taking advantage of U.S. disengagement to expand its military influence, particularly in Europe. China is accelerating its Taiwan strategy while expanding its global economic and security reach through the Belt and Road Initiative and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

This is not speculation—it is pattern recognition. A pattern where U.S. aggression is redirected away from Russia and China and focused on securing dominance over the Western Hemisphere. A pattern where Russia benefits from U.S. disengagement, allowing it to avoid consequences and prepare for further conflict. A pattern where China grows emboldened toward Taiwan as the U.S. applies economic pressure rather than strengthening deterrence.

Then there are the subtler signals—the inauguration seating of the TikTok CEO, Trump’s sudden openness to TikTok negotiations, and economic policies that seem to align with China’s strategic goals. Whether this is an unspoken geopolitical realignment or a convergence of independent strategic interests, the result is the same.

The world order has already shifted.

This isn’t a theory. It isn’t a distant possibility.

By the time the world understands what has changed, it will already be living in the new reality—one where the balance of power belongs not to democracies, but to those ruthless enough to seize it.