Live Mar 7, 2026 | Yaron Brook Show
Season 12, Episode 46
Iran War -- One Week Evaluation | Yaron Brook Show

One Week Into the Iran War: Is the West Finally Fighting to Win—or Repeating the Same Strategic Mistakes?

After seven days of strikes, missile barrages, and escalating regional tensions, the critical question is not whether the West has military superiority—but whether it has a strategy for victory.
On this episode of the Yaron Brook Show, Yaron Brook breaks down the first week of the Iran war: what has gone right, what has already gone wrong, and what it would actually take to bring down the Iranian regime.

From air dominance and Iranian drone attacks to the strategic choke point of the Strait of Hormuz, Yaron analyzes the military realities shaping the conflict. He also explains why regime change must be the goal, why the Kurds could be decisive allies, and why the West may already be repeating the strategic mistakes that have doomed past wars.

The show closes with a wide-ranging audience Q&A tackling everything from constitutional war powers and Trump’s role to Ayn Rand, Objectivism, and whether Iran could ever become a Western country.

If you want a clear, morally unapologetic analysis of the war—and what victory would actually require—this episode is for you.

Watch the full episode: https://youtube.com/live/rK5AJnbKVRc

Timestamps
1:13 Where the Iran War Stands
3:24 One Week In: Military Balance and Early Outcomes
7:19 U.S. & Israeli Air Dominance
9:06 Iran’s Missile and Drone Barrages
12:49 The Rising Drone Threat in the Gulf
18:37 Key Iranian Targets and Counterstrikes
24:14 Hezbollah’s Role and Israel’s Response
29:02 What Is the Actual Goal of This War?
31:41 The West’s Strategic Planning Failure
35:02 Why the Kurds Could Be Decisive Allies
43:02 The Strait of Hormuz: The World’s Energy Chokepoint
48:38 What a Strategy for Victory Would Look Like
58:23 China’s Stakes in the Conflict
1:06:02 Why Gulf Allies Must Be Brought In
1:09:11 What a Real Campaign to Defeat Iran Would Require

Audience Q&A
1:12:30 Property taxes, DeSantis, and political strategy
1:19:35 Why has Objectivism spread so slowly?
1:20:21 Why do leftists claim to love workers but treat them poorly?
1:22:38 Is the Iran war unconstitutional without Congress?
1:25:02 Ayn Rand’s influence on the business world
1:25:58 Is Trump chasing a legacy of strength over peace?
1:26:27 Does understanding Objectivism make you intellectually stronger?
1:27:16 How to challenge Keynesians at a conference
1:29:28 Who hit the Iranian girls’ school?
1:30:38 Is praising Trump for attacking Iran morally comparable to Hitler attacking the USSR?
1:31:14 Can empathy ever be selfish?
1:32:15 Could Iran become a Western country in our lifetime?
1:33:06 Podcasts vs universities for learning ideas
1:33:58 Lessons from Stuxnet cyber warfare
1:36:25 Why wasn’t there a real plan to win?
1:38:55 Could the Kurds lead a future Iran?
1:42:19 Why Europe remains hesitant in this war
1:44:52 Could Beirut become the Paris of the Middle East again?
1:45:55 Why intellectuals seem to crave a new Dark Age
1:49:49 Supporting regime change while opposing Trump
1:53:44 Optimism about Iran’s future after the war
1:54:30 Can regime change happen without harming civilians?
1:56:59 Has Iran’s regime been weakened enough for revolt?
1:59:52 Trump’s pressure campaign on Cuba
2:00:18 Thoughts on Pierre Poilievre
2:04:59 Should government insure shipping in wartime?
2:09:00 Could an Objectivist ever win an election?
2:10:39 The idea of an “AI Yaron”
2:12:01 Will this war restore American confidence?

#IranWar #IsraelIranConflict #MiddleEastWar #RegimeChange #NATO #AbrahamAccords #USForeignPolicy #StraitsofHormuz #MilitaryStrategy #Objectivism

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Yaron is the executive chairman of the Ayn Rand Institute and a world class speaker. He is the coauthor of the national best-seller Free Market Revolution: How Ayn Rand’s Ideas Can End Big Government, Equal is Unfair: America's Misguided Fight Against Income Inequality and In Pursuit of Wealth: The Moral Case for Finance. He speaks around the world on a variety of topics including the morality of capitalism, Ayn Rand and her philosophy, finance and economics, and the value of inequality.