The First Great Compound War: Why America Is Fighting Iran With an Obsolete Theory of Victory

Theory Briefing

• The article argues the Iran conflict is the first major war of the "Compound Age," where no single battlefield win can decide the outcome.
• Battlefield dominance, America's long-standing theory of victory, is framed as mismatched to an era of layered, systemic threats.
• The piece calls for a new systemic theory of victory that accounts for interconnected political, military, and technological pressures simultaneously.
• The gap between winning fights and winning wars is presented as the central strategic danger facing U.S. planners right now.