There are many nightmares a writer would prefer, or try, to avoid. The worst is to repeat himself, especially when crises drag on and the men at their center lose themselves in their statements and positions, and the world becomes lost along with them.
No global crisis has evolved, spread, and become as intertwined as the current one, which has been called the “October 7 War.” It continues to generate new consequences from one month to the next and from one year to the next, moving from threats of existential annihilation to threats of economic destruction.
The war has erupted from one front to another, from one region to another, and from one issue to another, without asking anyone's permission or offering anyone an explanation.
It began as the war in Gaza and the war against Hamas, and has become a war over Hormuz and the Strait of Hormuz, and over who controls it. Everyone claims a connection to Layla, while also claiming ownership of the strait, its administration, its revenues, and its shipping routes.
The truth is that everyone is trying to control it and assert the legitimacy of that control, or is entering into mediation efforts in the hope that the fire will stop spreading. The issue that began in Gaza on October 7 has now produced repercussions as far as China's borders, or beyond them.
Every side has its own predicament, even if it appears that the greatest predicament belongs to the man at the top. While Trump appears to be winning on the military front, as expected, he seems to be in a predicament on the political front.
The Iranians are suffering and losing their way no less. It is hardly a sign of health when all of their victories are of the negative kind, or consist of the losses suffered by others. Nor is it a victory for the Iranian president to complain about the hardships facing his people. And you cannot fight with the arms of others while keeping your own arm “wrapped up.”
