Is It 1914 in America?
Mr. Touval, a foreign-policy analyst, wrote from Tel Aviv.
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
War planners imagine that a regime can be decapitated into collapse, whereas external attack often does the opposite — binding a battered state more tightly to a society newly united by injury, humiliation and rage. They imagine that destroying conventional assets would settle the matter, as if legitimacy, wounded sovereignty and collective anger were secondary rather than the war’s actual terrain. Planners who took their adversary’s self-understanding seriously — rather than discounting it as propaganda — might have anticipated that an attack would not weaken the regime’s narrative but instead fulfill it. They might also have foreseen the paradox that systematic decapitation does not produce negotiators. It removes them.
Saturday, March 28, 2026
Trump himself appears to be wary of letting his Iran misadventure drag on. The Wall Street Journal reports that he wants a speedy end to the war, and at times he seems to be begging Iran’s leaders to make a deal. “They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK,” he posted on Thursday morning. You could almost see the flop sweat wafting off him. Yet despite all the reasons America shouldn’t escalate its war with Iran, there’s a good chance it will.
Friday, March 27, 2026
Malcolm Morrison's Comment to WSJ editorial: See the mission through to what? That has been the problem from day one of this war - what are the objectives, define victory, how do you intend to pull out? What comes after you have destroyed their government (hoping against hope America learned anything from Iraq)? And the 2000 troops mentioned - the US would need a great deal more than that to even invade Kharg. This war was amateurly prepared by Trump and he has to deal with the consequences.
Don’t Let Iran’s Hostage-Takers Win
Stopping the war weeks short would vindicate their Hormuz strategy
ET
President Trump’s war with Iran is testing the limits of his unorthodox diplomatic style as he grasps for a deal to end the conflict shaking the Middle East and the global economy.
Standoff With Iran Raises Fresh Doubts About Trump’s Freestyle Diplomacy
A jumble of emissaries — a friend, a family member, a dove and a hawk — on the Iran crisis reflects President Trump’s improvisational approach.
Reporting from Washington
Thursday, March 26, 2026
The ugliest possibility is a great unwinding where catastrophic economic damage causes countries to seek self-sufficiency, perhaps by building regional spheres of influence that provide resources and markets. This would be drastic, but not unprecedented: When interdependence collapsed during the Great Depression, aggressive powers conquered enormous empires in hopes of creating self-contained prosperity and security against their foes.
One quarter of the Americans who voted for Donald Trump in 2024 disapprove of his Iran policy, and this disapproval is especially high among groups who moved strongly toward him during that election: 56% among young adults, 62% for Hispanics and independents. These statistics signal more than a political threat for Mr. Trump and the Republicans who must face voters this fall. They represent a challenge to the democratic legitimacy of the most solemn decision that a nation can make. It’s up to the president to conclude this war in the way that does the least damage to our national interest—and to the people’s waning confidence in their public institutions.
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