The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg Honor Among Nations | Interview: Graeme Wood
Sep 11, 2025
Graeme Wood, a staff writer at The Atlantic and expert on the Middle East, dives deep into Iran’s complex regional strategies following its recent conflict with Israel. He discusses the implications of Iran's proxy networks, the ideological shifts from the Iran-Iraq war, and the potential for regime change in the wake of leadership uncertainties. Wood also analyzes how Middle Eastern regimes navigate issues like women's rights and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to distract from their governance failures while stressing the enduring significance of national honor.
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Iran's Proxy Strategy Worked Better Than Invasion
- Iran built influence by cultivating proxy groups instead of projecting power through large conventional forces.
- This "forward defense" created an axis of resistance that spread Iranian influence across the region.
Israel Weakened The Axis, But Iran Retains Threats
- Israel inflicted major strategic defeats on Iran's regional network, reducing coordinated threat capacity.
- Iran still demonstrated missile penetration capabilities that remain a long-term concern.
Nuclear Setbacks Are Uncertain And Probabilistic
- Strikes on nuclear sites may have been damaging but uncertainty remains about the extent of setbacks.
- Iran could hide facilities or move material, so damage estimates are probabilistic not definitive.
