Ceasefire in Peril: A Pattern of Escalation in the Middle East The latest round of US military strikes against Iranian missile sites and boats attempting to lay mines marks a disturbing escalation in the long running conflict between the two nations.
This development is striking not only for its timing – coinciding as it does with high level negotiations aimed at ending the war – but also for its eerily familiar context.
Recent history offers little cause for optimism. The international community has been caught in a cycle of tit for tat aggression, punctuated by periodic outbreaks of violence and periods of relative calm.