I can’t for the life of me draw a straight line with pen and paper, but even I can draw a sharp connecting line between Trump’s impetuous Iran sojourn and the historic Democrat sweep in this year’s midterms. American voters have been teaching politicians election after election that the single red line that exists for all of them — regardless of race, gender, party, ethnicity, religion — is inflation. Unfortunately for Trump, he is not good at lessons, so this is where they have ended up.
To me, this election is also a vindication of Iran’s (or of at least a faction within it) incredibly shrewd strategy. America may be untouchable physically for many reasons, including military might and oceanic gulfs, but economically it can be hurt. And it can be hurt badly even in the middle of a booming economy, as long as you pull the right levers. Iran happened to have one of the best levers, and they never let go.
This is a lesson for the rest of the world on how to respond to American interventionism — hit back where it hurts economically. If you can’t, find a way to develop ways that you can. And, so, the lesson for American politicians (at least the ones with the minimal IQ necessary to pay attention to lessons) is that interventionism has run its course. Diplomacy and building bridges must take the place of bellicose chest-thumping and war.
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