Deadlocked Wars: How Major Powers Misread the Regions They Attacked

Article excerpt

Russia expected Ukraine to crumble in weeks; the United States assumed Iran's government would topple under pressure. Both miscalculations trapped the superpowers in grinding conflicts they couldn't easily escape. Analysts argue that Moscow and Washington projected their own centralized, top-down models of power onto societies with deeper fractures and more resilient resistance than either side anticipated. The result: two wars of attrition that have reshaped global alignments and drained resources from both invaders.