The Game and the Conspiracy

The simplified mind tends to attribute far more power to the United States than it actually possesses. What is particularly striking about this global phenomenon is that it sees only the negative side of American power. In this view, the United States may fail to solve problems, but it never fails to “conspire.” The notion of the “American conspiracy” has, in many minds, replaced the old idea of the “British game” that prevailed during the era of British dominance.

Reality, however, is more complex. American power is indeed formidable, but it is not magic. In the current conflict, even vast naval fleets proved unable to deter Iran or bring the confrontation to a decisive conclusion within an acceptable timeframe. Yet that same immense power was capable of inflicting levels of destruction on Iran that many would have considered unimaginable.

The same applies to the human toll imposed by the United States and Israel on Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza. Eyewitness accounts emerging from Iran since the war paint a grim picture of the scale of the devastation. A report in The New York Review of Books speaks of “many thousands of deaths” across Iranian cities, including, of course, Tehran. Semi-official estimates place the number of fatalities across the region at roughly ten thousand, with around fifty thousand wounded.

And yet, a decisive outcome remains elusive. The same can be said of a lasting ceasefire. Regardless of the extent of the damage inflicted on Iran, the absence of a clearly declared American victory would once again undermine the standing of the world’s leading power.

What is certain is that the uncertainty surrounding the scale of the disasters that have struck the “battlefield” since October 7 has rendered the very notion of victory increasingly meaningless. Entire cities have been transformed into a single battlefield—a long landscape of rubble, destruction, and death.

The United States could have mitigated much of this devastation by restraining Israeli military actions and limiting the scale of destruction in Gaza and Lebanon. Instead, it chose to maintain its position as Israel’s unconditional ally.

In the end, the debate between power and conspiracy often obscures a more uncomfortable reality: immense power does not always produce decisive outcomes, but it can still leave behind enormous destruction.

Originally published in Asharq Al-Awsat.