  Evidence is mounting that natural supersymmetry at the weak scale is not
realized in nature. On the other hand, string theory suggests that
supersymmetry may be present at some energy scale, and gauge coupling
unification implies that that energy scale may be relatively low. A puzzling
question is then why nature would prefer a low, but not completely natural
supersymmetry breaking scale. Here we offer one possible explanation, which
simultaneously addresses also the strong CP and mu problems. We introduce an
axion, and suppose that the Peccei-Quinn and supersymmetry breaking scales are
connected. If we further assume that R-parity is not conserved, then the axion
is required to be dark matter, and the Peccei-Quinn/supersymmetry breaking
scale is required to be at least ~10^12 GeV. Gravity mediation then yields
scalar superpartners with masses of at least ~100 TeV. The gauginos are likely
to obtain loop-factor suppressed masses through anomaly mediation and higgsino
threshold corrections, and thus may be accessible at the LHC. The axion should
be probed at phase II of the ADMX experiment, and signs of R-parity violation
may be seen in the properties of the gauginos.
