Caitlin Talmadge & Mara Karlin
June 10, 2026
SSP faculty Caitlin Talmadge & Mara Karlin focus on three points in their latest article for The Brookings Institution: "How did we get here?", "The end of an era," and "Policy recommendations".
The Iran war has called into question the feasibility of the American way of war. For decades, the United States has premised its national strategy on the ability to fight using forces forward deployed close to enemy territory. But this war has profoundly undermined the notion that the bases and surface ships needed to project such power will continue to enjoy sanctuary from adversary attack. This reality has major implications for U.S. policy toward and campaign planning against more powerful adversaries such as Russia and China, who will also surely seek to deny the United States the ability to fight in the manner it prefers.