“Three quarters of the factors on which action in war is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty.” – Carl von Clausewitz “Beware the ‘fog of war.’” – The Lonely Realist When asked in 1972 about the impact of the French Revolution, Chinese...
“Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.” – The Lonely Realist Today's TLR continues to analyze the potential economic fallout from the Iran War by assessing the consequences of two “what if” possibilities: What if (1) there will not be a negotiated settlement; and...
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.” – attributed to Mark Twain TLR earlier this month addressed three possible outcomes for the Iran War. The first is the one sought by America and its allies: America and Israel pulverize the Iranian Theocracy, the Iranian people take...
“Wars are messy, their consequences unpredictable.” – The Lonely Realist “The implications of developments in the Middle East for the US economy are uncertain.” – Jerome Powell (March 18, 2026) History teaches that wars are disruptive. They have unanticipated spillover effects, including by creating interest rate and...
“It’s about energy.” – The Lonely Realist Today’s TLR is a brief follow-up to this past Thursday’s “The Iran War”: One month ago, writing about whether the US Dollar might surrender its reserve currency status, TLR noted that America and China are in a competition for global...
“Is the Iran War a terrible mistake or a brilliant geopolitical gambit?” – The Lonely Realist Thomas Paine in 1776 said: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” Wars do that. What happens to Iran and the Middle East after America’s and Israel’s bombing campaign ends?...