Iran and War without Reality

Alexander Dugin on postmodern war and the collapse of truth.

Conversation with Alexander Dugin on the Sputnik TV program Escalation.

Host: To begin, I suggest we comment on the statements and ultimatums issued by the U.S. president, directed both at Iran and at other countries in the region. On the one hand, Donald Trump is demanding that Tehran immediately reopen the Strait of Hormuz, threatening otherwise to launch massive strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure—he has already said he would begin with the largest power plants.

On the other hand, reports indicate that Trump has also approached the Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf. According to journalists, he has presented them with an unprecedented financial demand—amounting to trillions of dollars—for the continued presence of U.S. forces. This is happening in regions densely packed with American bases, where local rulers have long relied on U.S. protection for their security.

How do you assess this moment: is it outright geopolitical blackmail, or an attempt by Trump to fundamentally rewrite the rules of the game in the Middle East?

Alexander Dugin: It seems to me that in this war—one that is teetering on the edge of becoming a Third World War—we still do not fully understand whether it has already begun or is only approaching. Perhaps these developments can still be delayed, if not entirely avoided.

In this war—and we should be careful with definitions—everything is tightly bound up with discourse, with what is being said. The words of the United States, Israel, Iran, and the Gulf states are increasingly diverging from what is actually happening on the ground and from the decisions being made in practice. This war is unfolding simultaneously on two planes: the realm of narrative and the realm of fact. And the two are becoming inseparably entangled.

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Iran and War without Reality