On Jan 29th Hagai spoke with Mariella Frostrup on Times Radio about the attacks in Iraq, the Iran situation and whether this is all leading us to a World War!
Hagai emphasised that while we are in a very dangerous world right now, this is very different to the late 1930s (for example), in large part because of what we have learned from what happened then!
He also made the point that Iran is fighting indirectly through its affiliated militias - its proxies - and while this poses headaches and complex challenges to Western and regional political and military decision-makers, it is very different from open warfare between states. Indeed, Iran’s actions often emphasise its weakness rather than its strength, and it knows all too well that it faces external and internal threats from a wider escalation in hostilities.
As he states in the interview, the bad news is that the world is certainly getting more dangerous, but the good news is that global decision-makers are acutely aware of the dangers of allowing the domino effects that led to the previous World Wars.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/radio/show/20240129-24735/2024-01-29
