Author: John J. Mearsheimer

Wars are often judged by the territory captured, governments overthrown, or military targets destroyed. Yet those measures frequently obscure the more important question: who emerges with greater strategic leverage? The recent confrontation between the United States and Iran illustrates why battlefield statistics can be deeply misleading. Washington undoubtedly inflicted considerable military and economic damage on Iran. Its air power struck military infrastructure, sanctions continued to squeeze the Iranian economy, and senior American officials repeatedly described Tehran as being at its weakest in decades. Judged solely by military capability, the United States appeared dominant. But strategy is not simply about destruction.…