The Russian defence minister and a elder Chinese politburo associate celebrated 1 of North Korea's key national holidays, marking the end of hostilities in the 1950-53 war. Therefore, it is worth asking what this show of unity of the "axis of non-democratic states", including the authorities in Moscow, Beijing and Pyongyang, was. Have we had an operetta effort to intimidate the West, or are we facing a real challenge to global security?