at the heart of that assessment is the idea there is a global alliance of autocracies all working together to undermine the west. the fact that this funding bill links the conflicts in ukraine and the middle east with fears over taiwan plays into that narrative. we're facing the emergence of a new china—russia axis. this time, unlike the sino—soviet alliance of cold war days, china is the senior partner and russia is the subordinate partner. they have their outliers in north korea, iran, syria, belarus, cuba, nicaragua, venezuela. i think the lines are being drawn, and i think it's a question whether, once again, the west will be able to stand up to the threat. i think the outcome is uncertain at this point. certainly the us government argues russia's war effort is hugely dependent on support from china. we see china sharing machine tools, semiconductors, other dual use items that have helped russia rebuild