SUPPOSE YOU WERE AN IRANIAN

Try to imagine our next war. Pardon the fatalism inherent in this suggestion, but nearly all of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st were dominated by war, and one looks in vain for the slightest sign in our future of no war or even less war.

Since nearly all wars are connected to disputes over resources, a growing global population will stoke the need for more of everything and perpetual fighting over the world’s diminishing resources seems inevitable.

The United States has the same interest in these resources that everyone else has, which largely explains our military presence and influence around the world, especially in the resource-rich Middle East.

We have other motivations for being in Iraq and Afghanistan but it’s not overly cynical to suggest that all of them stem back to conflicts over resources, mostly hydrocarbons.

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