The Korea Times
TEL AVIV — Major wars usher in new international orders. The 30 Years’ War brought the Peace of Westphalia. The Napoleonic Wars gave rise to the Concert of Europe. World War II spurred the creation of the Bretton Woods system, decolonization, and European integration. Even the Cold War gave way to a liberal world order, with the United States as its hegemon. But not all wars lead to better international orders. The Iran war is likely to prove particularly damaging in this respect. The war is likely to make matters considerably worse than they were when the U.S. and Israel launched it. Far from being replaced by a more Western-friendly entity, the Iranian regime has hardened into a military dictatorship. Whatever concessions this regime ends up making on its nuclear program, its ties with China, Russia, and North Korea will remain intact, and Iran will remain a destabilizing force in the Middle East. The difference is that Iran’s neighbors in the Gulf have now lost faith in their American protector and are weaker and more divided than they were before the war. To be sure, the Gulf
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