Authoritarians are strong until they're not

ANALYSIS: Russia and Iran have weakened their own hands by the wars they started aimed at sapping the West.

Three years ago Joe Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan was a bonanza for the authoritarians.

The United States was a fickle partner, sapped of resolve after years of never-ending wars and a victim of erratic democratic swings in public sentiment, the type that delivered Donald Trump and his American First mandate another endorsement, so went the…