Hopefully, the leadership of the collective West (or their puppeteers, more accurately), understand the position they are in, negotiate from the position of reality and accept a more diminished role in the win/win multi polar world that is being built. The West/Israel have nothing left in the escalation ladder except for the unthinkable nuclear option. For reasons too obvious to state, it isn't an option that is available unless they have a collective death wish. Not that there would be any "winners" but Western countries are the least equipped/prepared for this doomsday scenario and would be least likely to be able to rebuild in a few generations.
Israel/the West have lost the wider war and that is plain to see, the downside being that they still have the means to upend the board for all. Hopefully (that word again) they take the only rational path although it is unclear if they are rational actors. Rational for the terms of this discussion being a relative term, ngb, as none of Israeli/Western provocations are rational but we can all agree that inviting nuclear armageddon is a much higher step of irrationality than the provocations thus far.
Working from the assumption that enough rationality exists within the decision making corridors of the collective West to save their own skins, then Israel/the West simply have to climb down, recognise their weak position in any negotiations and accept the diminished role in the now unstoppable new multi polar world order. It is in the interests of Iran/China/Russia to make sure that the countries that make up the Collective West(US/UK/EU/G7/NATO) are not humiliated and negotiations are not used to bludgeon them. That invites the irrational response which is not a win for Iran et al either.
In the longer term, should the above come to pass, there would undoubtedly be at least a reconstituted UN giving more power to currently unrepresented Global South or a new organisation entirely. The charter of the UN as it stands is agreed by the world majority, but the West trample over this with their unbalanced control of the main mechanism of the UN, and only one with real clout, the Security Council where they hold 3 of only 5 permanent seats, the only seats with veto power. This control that the West (Israel's sponsors) currently have will not be allowed to continue. The international finance and banking system will also be re-ordered via a new "Bretton Woods" style agreement which will, by definition, take away the West's preferred tool of economic warfare. Namely the illegal, under the UN charter, sanctions that they impose at will through their control of world financial systems and then enforce via the "purely a defensive alliance
", NATO.
A comment my father made many years ago has always stuck with me, which is both profound and succinct. "Israel can only lose once".
Yossi Melman @yossi_melman - 5:50 UTC · Jun 15, 2025
"The euphoria was brief. On Friday morning, I asked if it was even necessary to start a war with the Iranians. Shiites are historically willing to suffer. I mentioned their willingness to sacrifice as demonstrated in the 8 years of attrition with Iraq. I recommend that we cut our losses. Ask Trump to stop the scramble for a reasonable agreement. Otherwise, we'll end up begging for a cease-fire and Iran will refuse."
Bolded above is where we are now. Eventually Israel and it's sponsors will be forced to take a negotiated climbdown. This will be the end for them as a dominant power in the region and their future as the "Jewish State". I believe a one state solution is the only way now and doubt that the existence of Israel is for much longer. The collective West, if they step in, would anyway be unable to prevent the inevitable. Israel's position is becoming ever more untenable daily. The negotiated climbdown would be certain to include control and inspection of their undeclared nuclear sites and weapons whether they survive as a state or not. All of this is based on the assumption that just enough rationality exists in the West/Israeli leadership(I know
) to avoid MAD.
Perhaps, ngb, it would have been better to direct your question at David and Steve for a more accurate analysis. If they answer, it would be safe to assume that the exact opposite of everything they say would be a surefire way of getting to the likely truth. Or even more succinctly, as my Dad said, "Israel can only lose once". When you begin to think through the consequences of Israel losing and what it really represents, it is that the whole collective West loses at the same time.
How do you see events unfolding?
It's "
ivory tower nonsense", according to Israeli diplomat Shlomo Ben-Ami. Other historians have cited the Arab unwillingness to accept a Jewish presence in the Middle East.
One only has to look at how Hamas controlled Gaza following the withdrawal of the Israeli military in 2005. Digging tunnels from which to plan the eradication of the Jewish state, shooting Fatah prisoners in the knees and throwing them off buildings, then there were the "honour" killings of women: all totally incompatible with Western values.
But then, you and ngb1066 despise everything about the West, ignoring the closed Islamic societies out of which nothing productive has come for the last 500 years.