Iran and Ukraine are the last conflicts of the Cold War and their end could spur an open future for the world

A war is a clash of wills — a bloody collision between irreconcilable national interests.In the ancient world, it was easy to tell apart winners and losers.The defeated city — think of Troy in the “Iliad” — was looted and burned to the ground.Most of the population was put to the sword, while the young women were distributed as bonus prizes among the winners.One of the epithets Homer uses for the hero Odysseus is “sacker of cities.” Homer meant this as a compliment.Modern wars, on the other hand, can be hugely complicated affairs.Sometimes, the outcomes are self-evident: there’s no question that the US won World War II but lost the Vietnam War.Just as often, contemporary wars end in confusion.Who won the Korean War — or, more recently, the Iraq War?It depends on whom you ask.In those cases, the most decisive weapon by far is information — the ability to persuade the home audience and the world at large that you are, in fact, winning.Two epochal wars are raging at present — between Russia and Ukraine, and the US and Iran — the outcome of which will determine not only the global disposition of power but also the continuing ability of the 20th century to export its quarrels to the 21st.For all that, both wars belong to the confusing category.Ferocious information struggles are thus being waged in parallel with the slaughter and destruction on the ground.The invasion of Ukraine, which the Russians initially thought would be wrapped up in a matter of weeks, is now deep into its fourth year.The information war was lost by Russia almost immediately.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in his previous life a TV comic, turned out to be a courageous and charismatic wartime leader.

The blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag suddenly sprouted in windows and porches across the West in a gesture of moral support.Pressed by their electorates, NATO governments lavished material assistance on Ukraine.Despite his reputation as a master of propaganda, Russian stron...