It is not yet clear how the ongoing US attack on Iran will unfold, how long it will last, or who will “win.” The fact that this attack is even occurring, though, is very much in keeping with previous American foreign policy in one sense: it is another example of Washington focusing its attention on a smaller adversary and not its larger ones. The US has had larger adversaries as well as smaller adversaries in the past, has larger and smaller adversaries at present, and will continue to have