For the US and Israel, the Iran war is exposing an uncomfortable new world order • Paul Rogers

Posted: 28th March 2026

After four weeks of the US-Israeli war on Iran, the conflict dynamics have become ever more complex. While none of the three main actors has achieved their aims, Iran has undoubtedly come closest, despite the gigantic clouds of hubris that have characterised Trumpian political output so far.

Ordinary Iranians have suffered appallingly – with towns and cities damaged, thousands killed and injured, food shortages and rigorous control of dissent – but there is little sign of leadership collapse. The heads of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will now be quietly confident in regime survival; those assassinated have been replaced, and the state remains functional.

For Donald Trump and Binyamin Netanyahu, the unexpected challenge in defeating Tehran is exposing an uncomfortable new reality: the global economic balance of power is shifting away from the North Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific…