Iran-USA: "Hybrid" Wars Confront « Might Makes Right »

The drone strike that claimed the life of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani unmasks the limits of so-called "hybrid" – or "asymmetric" – strategies. These low-intensity military operations, conducted through unofficial paramilitary forces, are supposed to allow a weaker state to gain geopolitical advantages without risking an open war with a stronger one. The idea is to gradually accumulate small tactical victories by capitalizing on more powerful states’ lack of appetite for distant major military interventions. In Ukraine, Vladimir Putin was able to profit from the fact that neither the Americans nor the Europeans were ready to die for Kiev.