Iron Resolve

Abstract

Is state-on-state war really a thing of the past? R D Hooker, Jr imagines what could happen in a Middle East not far removed from that of today should Israel strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Iran’s retaliatory move of invading Iraq triggers in turn a series of regional and international responses that culminates in a US-led coalition fighting a conventional ground war against Iran – and the power dynamics of the region being unexpectedly rewritten. As the Journal went to press, the situation in Gaza remained tense, providing a sobering reminder of how real a possibility war in the Middle East still is. While R D Hooker, Jr's ‘vision of future war’ is an imaginary account of an imaginary war, captured in hand-drawn graphics, the deaths and destruction of the latest confrontation between Israel and Hamas are all too real. Yet this makes it even more important to think about what an all-out confrontation in the region would mean: which alliances would come apart and which would emerge? How would regional and domestic dynamics be altered, and how would an international coalition wage a conventional war successfully? These are the questions explored in this article. Ultimately, of course, the largest question remains unanswered: how to achieve a just and lasting peace.