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By developing an arsenal of attack drones, rockets, and cruise and ballistic missiles, Iran has achieved a decisive military advantage over its neighbors, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. What’s more, the Iranians have learned how to use these weapons in concert, in ways that might be able to overwhelm the most sophisticated American and Israeli defensive systems. The U.S., for its part, has shown itself reluctant to respond to Iranian aggression against its Gulf allies, or even against its own soldiers.
The result has been a loss of American deterrence, a subject discussed more generally on this podcast from March 2022. A recent essay titled “Overmatch” describes in specific terms how Washington’s inaction has invited Iranian superiority, along with China’s pronounced presence in the Middle East. On this podcast, Mosaic Editor Jonathan Silver discusses the article with Michael Doran, one of its co-authors.
Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.
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