LettersHistory shows the high cost and low yield of war as conflict resolution
Readers discuss the imperative of dialogue to end the Iran war, the growth and diversity of Chinese products and Hong Kong’s efforts to deter smoking
My brother is in Tehran. Last year, he lived through 12 days of bombardment: this year, 40 days of missiles passing over his head. The ringing in his ears has not stopped.
The history of asymmetric conflicts is consistent. Korea (1950–1953), Vietnam (1965–1973) and Iran–Iraq (1980–1988): in each case, the eventual outcome was a compromise – not from battlefield defeat by the stronger side, but because the cost of continuing finally became too prohibitive. The settlement reached at the end was close to what an earlier negotiation could have produced, after years of destruction in between.
Agreements keep collapsing because neither side trusts what it hears from the other, and there is no reliable way to check. A better-worded ceasefire will not fix that. What will be verified is compliance, trust between intermediaries on both sides, and channels that stay open between talks, not only during them.