{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/66ee295c5eb59bbcaeb51e6d/69a5f2692d879b90063c2e61?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Col. Jacques Baud: Middle East on Fire — Is This the Start of Something Bigger?","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/66ee295c5eb59bbcaeb51e6d/1772483162255-831a5252-935d-47dc-87b9-d9a27e877a84.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>Escalating US-Israel-Iran tensions analyzed: failed diplomacy, leadership strikes, and why regime change hasn't materialized despite decapitation attacks. Explores Iran's resilience, prepared succession, and cultural concepts of victory as resistance—not enemy destruction. Examines Arab Gulf states' precarious dependence on US protection amid growing doubts about Western reliability. Highlights strategic miscalculations: underestimating Iranian societal unity, overestimating technological superiority, and misunderstanding Middle Eastern psychology. Discusses how assassination of leaders without follow-up political strategy strengthens resolve rather than causing collapse. Questions a conflict driven more by historical grievances and obsession than tangible objectives. Warns that escalation without comprehending adversary worldview leads to protracted attrition where military gains don't equal strategic victory. Suggests sustainable peace requires genuine dialogue and respect—not just force—and that the West's pattern of broken agreements undermines future diplomatic efforts across the region.</p>","author_name":"Nima Rostami Alkhorshid"}