Analysts cited by The New York Times argue that major powers misread the regions they intervene in, contributing to prolonged and costly conflicts. In Ukraine, Russia’s approach is described as projecting a centralized, external view of how the country should function and how politics and society respond to pressure. The analysis also points to how these assumptions narrow Russian decision-making, leaving limited room for local dynamics and creating misaligned goals.
The reporting similarly describes U.S. perspectives toward Iran as reflecting broader, centralized assumptions rather than accounting for Iran’s regional context and internal constraints. Analysts say that when large powers treat smaller or more complex states as predictable extensions of their own models, they can trap the larger countries in confrontations that neither side can resolve quickly.
Overall, the account frames the deadlock as emerging not only from battlefield or diplomatic factors but also from strategic misunderstanding—where interpretations of local realities fail to match the political and social dynamics on the ground.
