By John J. Mearsheimer
John's Substack
July 27, 2026
On 23 July 2026, I was on the "Deep Dive" with Lt. Col. (ret.) Danny Davis talking about the war hawks and Iran. They are as enthusiastic as ever about escalating the war, but they still cannot explain how that produces a positive outcome for the US. As Danny and I emphasized for the umpteenth time, it will just make a bad situation worse.
One wonders if Trump will have the good sense to ignore the calls for escalation and instead try to work out another memorandum of understanding. Of course, if he does, he probably won't be able to stick to that agreement either. Meanwhile, the Houthis have shut down the Bab al-Mandab Strait and Brent crude was over $100 per barrel yesterday. It escapes me and Danny how anyone can believe that escalating now is going to fix those problems, much less open the Strait of Hormuz ? Or get the Iranians to surrender?
This article was originally published on John's Substack.