A thesis for why the pathway to a permanent ceasefire with Iran remains elusive, through the framework of zero-sum logic:

What follows is not necessarily continuous war, but recurrent escalation: blockade followed by countermeasures, interdiction followed by retaliation, each step justified by the last and narrowing the space for restraint. External actors may push for de-escalation, and markets may demand stability, but those pressures cannot override the underlying structure—the struggle over relative power