This post introduces the Defending Iran Project. The 2026 American and Israeli War against Iran, which appears to be far from over notwithstanding what amounts to a de facto armistice, raises a great many interesting questions and issues for anyone interested in contemporary military dynamics. There are various ways to approach such questions and issues. In this series of posts, I will put on the hat of a notional Iranian military analyst to examine how Iran can adapt to the challenges that this war brought to the fore, as well as what is likely to come in the future, given existing trends vis-a-vis the United States, Israel, and the Gulf Arab states, whether technological or otherwise.
I contend that what follows in this series should be of interest to readers who are primarily interested in military dynamics elsewhere in the world. As I have explained previously, the laws of physics—the scientific considerations at play—are universal, as are most of the analytical dynamics at play once we account for (limited and finite) variance in geography and “human factors” across the world. This is why this publication is called Universal Dynamics. Aspects of what will follow should be of considerable interest to countries, including but not limited to Taiwan and Japan, which face the full force of China’s ever-evolving and expanding strike capabilities, as well as countries such as China and Russia, which, like Iran, confront the formidable military capabilities of the United States.
I am, at heart, a comparativist military analyst. Putting on the proverbial hat of, say, a Russian military analyst, or at least attempting to view the world from Moscow, however imperfectly, does not require one to like or sympathize with Russia and its government. Attempting to do so, as I will attempt to do from the perspective of Tehran in this series, can be analytically rewarding and draw attention to analytical dynamics that may be pertinent to other countries and contexts, including but not limited to, continuing with the example, countries that may view Russia as an adversary.
