Benjamin Netanyahu (76)
He’s Israel’s longest serving prime minster and has turned war into a core activity for Israelis. The wars are quasi-colonial. The forever wars in Gaza, south Lebanon and the West Bank have colonial attitudes towards local populations. Citizens in each territory are regarded as beneath Israelis. Israeli laws are enforced in a discriminatory way.
The 2026 position is remarkable.
Trump is desperate for peace, which Netanyahu doesn’t want. All three wars are in Netanyahu’s political DNA. They are the glue making his multi-party coalition work.
South Lebanon is being devastated and, like Gaza, turned into a wasteland. Their agricultural land has been destroyed along with the urban infrastructure. Israeli’s goal is a cordon sanitaire separating itself from the terrorist group Hezbollah based in Lebanon and supported by Iran.
Netanyahu’s Israel is a regional power. There have been many conflicts with Iran for many years. Iran’s nuclear pretentions are the source of Israeli worries. Iran has used non-nuclear missile on attacks on Israel. Netanyahu is concerned that an Iranian attack with a viable nuclear weapon will pose an existential threat.
Israel is involved in forever wars and has been since 1948 (see Addendum).
Vladimir Putin (73)
In 2014 Putin achieved an amazing coup. The Crimea was conquered over-night. And the international community shrugged their shoulders. If Putin had read Clausewitz, or followed Bismarck’s military career, he’d have enjoyed the accolades and glory…..and left it at that. He didn’t.
Russia immediately embarked on an ambitious campaign. They tried to annex the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Alerted to Russia’s expansionist policies, this was vigorously resisted. Eight years later, Donbas battlefields resemble the First World War’s western front. This war of attrition is being fought mercilessly. Putin’s glory from the Crimea campaign has faded but he is an old man in a hurry.
Putin believed victory in the Donbas could be achieved by conquering the whole of Ukraine. He planned a four-day war. Russia would sweep in and capture Kiev. The Ukrainian government would surrender because of Russia’s over-whelming military superiority. Putin’s fantasy meant the Ukraine would revert to being a Russian client state. This would bring Putin’s dream of a reborn Soviet Union closer to fruition.
Russia’s 2022 army was a paper tiger. Four and a half years after the invasion, Russia is under constant military pressure. Zelenskyy has redefined war and the geopolitics of Ukraine and Russia.
Putin’s war of choice is a forever war.
Donald Trump (80)
Trump is the saddest of the three geriatrics. He hates war and is horrified by ‘forever wars’. In his first term he saw the Afghanistan War, 2001-21, as a swamp uselessly costing American lives. He couldn’t see a solution and recklessly announced American withdrawal after indecisive negotiations. The subsequent chaotic withdrawal, in 2021, led to the Taliban regime.
When he began his second term he campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, which he didn’t receive. The ubiquitous Netanyahu promised him military glory. He seemed to get it with spectacular B-2 raids on Iran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025. Trump declared that Iran’s nuclear capability was “obliterated”. This was Netanyahu’s spin and wasn’t supported by the CIA’s assessment.
February 2026 brought a joint Israeli-USA attack on the leadership of Iran. It was a stunning tactical success but strategic failure. The Iranians blockaded the Straits of Hormuz. This reduced global oil supplies by 20% and fertiliser supplies by 30%. Inflation was turbocharged in the USA and the rest of the world. It also reduced living standards in the poorest countries.
Following the lessons learned from Ukraine, the Iranian military campaign focused on American military assets in the Gulf region. Every American military base was severely damaged. Additionally, Iran attacked the critical oil industry of the Gulf States even though they were weren’t part of the campaign. American and Israeli bombing was accompanied by ferocious sanctions. Those tactics were ineffective. The one-day war is now six months long
Trump’s war of choice is transforming into a forever war, burying his ambition to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Addendum: Forever Wars
- Israel has been in many conflicts since 1948
- The Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2014
- The USA-Iran war began in February 2026 and is a potential forever war
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